


Brothers Keepers

by torturingtaylor (itzaimster)



Category: Hanson
Genre: Gen, Kidnapping, Ransom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-26
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-06-02 00:50:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6543727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itzaimster/pseuds/torturingtaylor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As the Hanson tour entourage arrives in Miami for a show, a random traffic stop sees Isaac and Taylor taken at gunpoint and Zac willing to do anything to get them back alive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Tuesday

**Tuesday Evening**

“How far is it to the hotel?” Taylor eyed his watch.  
“About fifteen minutes,” Bex looked over her shoulder from the front.  
“Right. So if we get unloaded that gives us two hours of sleep before we need to get up for radio.”  
“Who needs sleep?” Zac smirked.  
“I do,” Isaac insisted, “guy behind me kept kicking my seat. I don’t know why I bothered trying.”  
“And I was awake for most of that,” Taylor agreed, looking up in time for the van to slow down.  
“What is it?” Mike asked from the back.  
“I don’t know,” Dee replied from the driver’s seat, “there’s a van blocking the road. They might have a flat?”  
“Can we help?” Zac leant forward.  
“This is going to cut into our sleep time,” Isaac immediately grumbled.  
“We have to stop,” Dee shrugged, pulling onto the shoulder as they came to a stop.  
“We’ve dealt with less,” Taylor slapped Isaac’s knee as he reached over to open the side door.  
“Yeah but we’re getting old.”  
“Wait,” Mike leant forward to put a hand on Taylor’s arm just as the door clicked, “does something about this not seem right to you? There’s no one here.”  
“Maybe we should call for help?” Dee was leaning over the steering wheel, “I see a driver.”  
“No cell reception. That’s weird,” Zac frowned, otherwise not moving.  
“We might be the only help they get,” Taylor locked eyes with Mike before pulling the door fully open.  
He hopped onto the asphalt and eyed the dark van. It didn’t look like it had been in an accident, but anything could have led to it being where it was. Double checking that there was no other traffic on the road he quickly ducked over to check on the driver.  
“This is weird man, it’s too quiet,” Mike insisted, scratching at his beard.  
“And we need to get going,” Bex added.  
Isaac sighed dejectedly, knowing he’d end up being the one to go after his brother no matter what. He unclipped his seatbelt and began out just in time to see Taylor stepping back from the van with a confused frown.  
“What is it?” he asked, one foot on the road and the other still on the step.  
“It’s not real,” Taylor replied.  
“What?”  
Both of them jumped as the side and back doors opened simultaneously, Isaac falling from the step in the process.  
“Hands up! Don’t move!”  
“Grab these two!”  
“Wallets and cell phones, now!”  
Neither brother had time to process anything other than the fact that they had guns before gloved hands were on them.  
“Stay down!” Mike hissed to Zac, both he and Andrew automatically ducking behind the seats.  
Zac frantically went back to trying to get his cell phone to work, jumping at a thud as Isaac was thrown against the side of their van.  
“You people! Stay in the van!”  
“Take whatever you want,” Taylor insisted once he found his voice.  
He was sprawled against the dark van just as Isaac had been splayed against their white one.  
“Shut up!” a man to his side – not the one going through his pockets – ordered.  
“Okay.”  
He felt his cell phone go first and eyed the man who took it as he passed it off to someone else already holding one. Then he noticed something odd. Both Isaac’s cell and wallet had been thrown onto the road, and when his own wallet was retrieved it soon joined them.  
This wasn’t a robbery.  
“What do you want?” he tried instead, this time getting a punch in the jaw for his troubles.  
“I said shut up!”  
While he was dazed, the one who’d searched him turned him to shove his chest into the van, winding him but making it easy to pull his hands behind his back.  
“Clone’s done,” the man holding the two phones dropped Taylor’s before returning to the back of the van on his own.  
“This is how it’s gonna go!” the apparent ringleader began – who was currently aiming his gun into the front where Bex and Dee sat with their hands raised in clear view, “you will get a call within twenty-four hours. Do not ignore it. If you do, we kill one of them.”  
“What?” Zac gasped through his teeth, using every ounce of self-control to not let himself look up.  
Taylor sucked in a sharp breath as he felt the cuffs go on his wrists, now realising what was happening. When he looked over his shoulder he saw Isaac already cuffed.  
“If you go to the authorities, we kill one of them. You try in _any_ way to screw us over, we kill one of them. Got it?!”  
“We got it,” Mike replied as Bex nodded, unsure if she could talk.  
“GO!” he ordered.  
Isaac felt his arm being pulled and eyed the closest gun before letting himself be taken to the van. Taylor locked eyes with him in a moment of panic but Isaac looked away. There was nothing he could do.  
It wasn’t that he was going to fight, but Taylor froze on the spot. One man couldn’t move him. With most of them already back in the van the ringleader helped move him in before shutting the door on them and getting into the front himself.  
The van sped away as soon as it was started and Zac finally pulled himself up. Mike was the first out of the van.  
“Hoooooly crap!” Andrew’s hands were in his hair.  
“MOVE!” Zac ordered him, wanting to get out.  
Mike collected the wallets and phones – including parts that had broken off – before watching the direction the van had gone. By the time everyone else was out it was long gone.  
“That has never happened before! Being robbed at gunpoint?! We are good people! We don’t deserve this!” Andrew was panicking.  
“Calm down,” Zac insisted, though the colour was gone from his face.  
“And we weren’t robbed,” Mike corrected, turning to look at Zac.  
“Why didn’t they take a phone so they could call us?” Bex was also starting to panic now that the moment had passed.  
“They cloned Tay’s,” Mike had overheard, “probably so they couldn’t be traced.”  
“But why take both of them? Why not only one?” Dee’s arms were folded defensively.  
“You heard him,” Zac frowned, “they can kill one just to make a point, and still have the other to bargain with.”  
“What do you want to do?” Mike kept his eyes on Zac.  
There was an awkward moment of silence as everyone waited for Zac to decide.  
“I think…” he began carefully, “we need to get to the hotel and collect ourselves and talk it over there. It’s going to be a long morning.”  
Without another word, they retired back to the van. Zac paused at the side door to look back down the road, just now realising that his heart was pounding inside his chest.  
“Come on,” Mike attempted to snap him out of it, and it worked.  
Zac pulled himself up and closed the door behind him before taking up Taylor’s previous seat as Dee restarted the van. 

*

**Tuesday Night**

Taylor tried not to panic, but it was hard. At first he couldn’t remember what had happened and why he might not have been able to move, but when the memories came flooding back soon enough so did his blood pressure.  
He tried to stay still as he worked out where he was. His vision was obscured – but not completely – by something leather over his face that was holding his jaw closed, despite the tape he could feel wound tight around his head. His hands were still cuffed but he now had some kind of leather pouch over his hands to prevent them from moving much. His upper arms appeared to be zip tied to Isaac’s, his brother seated on a chair behind his and apparently still unconscious. His knees and ankles were both bound with tape but he vaguely remembered that already happening in the van.  
The most unsettling restraint however, aside from the mask, was the chain sitting loosely around his neck. When his eyes followed it they led him to a hook on the ceiling where both his and Isaac’s chains had been anchored. He wasn’t able to tell from the angle whether or not they would reach the ground, and suddenly became very conscious of the need to keep the chairs upright.  
To his left a rickety staircase led up to a single beaten door. There was a small door underneath the staircase, but aside from the dim lightbulb overhead Taylor couldn’t see anything else in his half of the room.  
He’d just started trying to twist his wrists free of the pouch when he felt Isaac move behind him and froze. He couldn’t talk to him, so he needed his brother to recognise the extent of their situation on his own. He could tell it took a while before Isaac even lifted his head, but his breathing heavied almost immediately.  
The first thing he did was pull on his arms which made Taylor grunt as the zip ties cut into his own. Now knowing that Taylor was behind him, he paused as he began to focus properly.  
There was one thing he could see that Taylor couldn’t, and his eyes were drawn to it right away. They weren’t the only ones in the room.  
In the corner opposite the bottom of the staircase lay a petite feminine figure, her shirt slightly ripped and an old pillowcase over her head. Her hands were also cuffed behind her but her legs were free and she had no chain. Her breathing pattern suggested that she were awake and just not moving. Not knowing that Taylor couldn’t see her, Isaac didn’t draw his attention.  
Once Isaac had had some time to come around, Taylor started trying to move his hands again. He couldn’t feel what was holding the leather there but whatever it was had drawn his wrists closer and the cuffs were now digging into his skin. He was already losing the feeling in the small finger on his right hand and it was worrying to say the least. Isaac guessed what he was doing but already considered it fruitless. There had to be a reason it was there after all. Instead he kept his eye on the girl, and when she moved for the first time he felt Taylor freeze. Her legs spread as she tried to balance herself, feeling the wall behind her and managing to push herself toward it. Taylor struggled to see over his shoulder to what was going on, but he finally caught a glimpse of her shadow as she managed to sit herself up back against the wall. Once there, she froze again.  
Not being able to say anything was already a problem. Taylor had a heap of questions he needed to get out, despite the unlikelihood of getting a satisfactory response to any of them. They didn’t even know if she’d been gagged like they had. Taylor soon worked out – as Isaac already had – that they were well into the waiting game. But considering how hot and humid it was down there, both were already praying that it wouldn’t take long. Both of their heavy jackets had been removed while they’d been out, but both brothers were already sweating under the leathers.

*

Once they’d been checked in, Mike and Dee accompanied Zac to his room while Bex went into immediate damage control and Andrew called home. Zac sat silently on his bed after dumping his suitcase as Mike closed the door behind them.  
“So I guess we’re not calling the police?” Dee’s arms were folded again.  
“What happens when people start asking questions?” Mike came back into the room.  
“Bex will handle it,” Zac’s eyes were to the floor, “that’s what she’s here for.”  
“Shouldn’t you call someone? Nicole or Natalie at least?” Dee suggested.  
“Does that count as screwing with them?” Mike pointed out, “one of them might panic and call the cops.”  
“Not if we tell them what they told us.”  
“They’re going to kill me,” Zac smirked.  
“Zac I think you’re-“  
“Not them. Ike and Tay’s wives,” Zac ran his fingers through his hair, “they’re going to kill me for not telling them right away, but I don’t want to tell them.”  
“What do you want to do? Just wait for the call?” Mike shrugged.  
“What else can we do?” Dee looked worried.  
“Did you get the license plate on the van?” Zac looked up.  
“I did,” Dee nodded, “I also took a picture as they drove away.”  
“We’ve got basic physical descriptions on five of them, I don’t know if any stayed in the van,” Mike offered, “but they were all wearing the same thing and we couldn’t see anything but their eyes.”  
“They were prepared,” Dee observed.  
“This wasn’t a last second thing, they knew what they were doing,” Zac agreed, “so how did they know where we’d be? Were they watching the airport for our flight? How did they know we’d be on that road at that time and that no one else would drive past?”  
“It doesn’t sound like a fluke, does it?” Mike pulled a face.  
“No it does not.”  
“This is assuming that they know who you are and they didn’t just try to target a random car,” Dee pointed out.  
“Which we won’t know until they call, and who are they going to call anyway?” Mike shrugged.  
“I would think my phone but keep theirs on just in case,” Zac insisted, “no one ignores any calls today as much as we might want to.”  
“We’ll need their chargers,” Mike pulled Isaac’s phone from a pocket.  
“They’re iPhones,” Zac shrugged.  
“Want me to leave them with you? Are you going to leave the room at all?”  
“Probably not,” he sighed, “unless Bex needs my help with something but I don’t see why she would.”  
“What about the concert?” Dee had to ask.  
“Bex will call the venue, the promoter… there’s nothing else we can do,” Zac was dismal, “I can’t go and do the Walk if I’m waiting for the call.”  
“You realise their wives are going to be on the phone the second they hear a show’s been cancelled, right?” Mike pointed out, “especially after last time.”  
“At least no one’s in hospital this time,” Zac attempted a joke, “…yet.”  
“You’re gonna have to come up with something,” Mike shook his head, “and fast. Because this is going to get out soon and we can’t stall it forever.”  
“They’re going to want money,” Zac blatantly changed the subject, “I need to see what I can do with the accounts from here.”  
“You might need help from Nikki and Nat with that too,” Mike added, “if you need access in Tulsa. Or even just access to theirs.”  
Zac nodded, not wanting to think of how that phone call was going to go.  
“Maybe. It depends on what they want.”  
“I’m going to go and check on Andrew,” Dee awkwardly made to leave the room, “call us if you need anything.”  
“Thanks,” Zac watched after him.  
It was silent until the door closed.  
“You know they’ll be okay, right?” Mike tried to reassure him, “they need both of them as bargaining chips. They can’t hurt them.”  
“Yeah I know,” Zac pursed his lips, “but it’s not going to stop me worrying. How often do these things play out without anyone getting hurt?”  
“Let’s not look up the statistics right now,” Mike mused, “want me to stay here?”  
“No you should get some sleep,” Zac shook his head, “I won’t be going anywhere. Just tell Bex to come see me when she’s done.”  
“Will do,” Mike nodded before taking his leave.  
Zac waited until the door closed behind him before looking toward the bathroom. He’d gotten more sleep than anyone else but right now he just felt… drained. But he couldn’t fall asleep.  
He got up and headed for the basin to wash his face, hoping the cold water would help to keep him alert.

*

Neither Isaac nor Taylor had any idea how long they’d been there before the upstairs door opened. Right away they were hit with loud music they’d previously only heard in the distance, but they were more concerned with the imposing figure in the doorway. He was still wearing the dark clothing he’d picked them up with, and still wearing the black and white mask. His eyes were on them.  
Taylor felt Isaac tense against him.  
In his hands were a length of chain and a pole. Isaac’s first thought was that Zac must have gone to the police. This was it – one of them was going to die.  
Taylor on the other hand caught on, and while Isaac instinctively ducked away as the chain was attached to the pole and lifted, Taylor watched as it was simply added to theirs so that there were now three chains hanging. That done the man set the pole against the staircase as he walked over to the girl to fasten the other end around her neck. The snap of the padlock that accompanied the move confirmed the brothers’ fears that their own chains had been locked on.  
Then he pulled the pillowcase from her head. It was hard for Isaac to see at first as long red hair was suddenly strewn everywhere, but he soon deciphered that she was wearing a ball gag.  
“Settle in, get some sleep,” the man ordered as he retrieved the pole, “you’re going out to work tonight.”  
With that, he took both the pole and the pillowcase back upstairs and closed the door behind himself. Taylor groaned at not getting any relief either from the heat or from the pressure on his hands while Isaac kept his eye on the girl. She now looked to be maybe early 20’s and vaguely familiar.  
The first thing she did was use her knees to force the gag out of her mouth and cough once it was clear. When Taylor heard that, he began trying to shift the chair so that he could at least make eye contact. Isaac grunted to himself but relented, and the movement made the girl look up for the first time. Her eyes widened and Isaac began rushing to think of a way to not let her panic.  
“Ike?” she frowned, catching him off guard.  
He felt Taylor flinch, but once the pain in his arm died down realised he’d just turned his head sharply.  
“And… Taylor? What…?”  
She was a fan. That was how Isaac had recognised her. He knew her from the crowd.  
But what was she doing here?  
“Shit,” she cursed to herself under her breath, before pushing herself back into the wall.  
Taylor audibly protested and Isaac could feel him twist their arms. He leant forward a little so that Taylor could do… whatever he was trying to do, but it didn’t stop the pull. Taylor was trying to show her their hands in the hopes that she might be able to help, but she’d turned her eyes away before he could. He gave up when she buried her face in her knees and started to cry.  
Now that the chairs had been turned slightly Isaac was having trouble seeing the door, but he figured he’d get plenty of warning through the loud music alone whenever the door did open. He just hoped he got more warning than that when it came time for business.  
He also couldn’t stop himself from thinking that now that Taylor was almost directly facing the door, if one of them were going to be killed they might just shoot him from the doorway.


	2. Wednesday

**Wednesday Morning**

Zac was flat on his back on the bed with just the bedside lamp on when Taylor’s phone rang. Almost twisting something in his rush to get up, he quickly checked that the hotel paper and pen were still within reach before answering the phone without even checking the caller ID.  
“This is Zac Hanson,” he hadn’t been sure how to answer it, but that’s what came out.  
“I know your voice. Zac what’s going on? Why are you answering Tay’s phone?!”  
Zac closed his eyes when he realised it was Natalie. He wasn’t ready for this.  
“First a girlfriend tells me you guys cancelled not one but _two_ radio appearances this morning, so I look up your flight to see that you apparently made it in fine, but now Tay’s not answering his phone?! Start talking!”  
“Nat I am so sorry-“  
“Which hospital is he in?!”  
“He’s not in hospital,” Zac replied quickly, “and he’s not dead either, so just… breathe for a second.”  
There was a pause on the other end as Natalie pulled herself together.  
“Then where is he?” she asked, “please tell me he didn’t get arrested because I warned him-“  
“We aren’t that lucky I’m afraid,” Zac mused for a moment that jail was third on her list of possibilities, “but along that subject line, I’m going to please - _please_ \- ask you to keep this to yourself, and to not involve the police.”  
Another pause.  
“Zac what happened?”  
“We were jumped on our way to the hotel by some guys in a dark van,” he began carefully, “we thought they were trying to rob us but… Anyway at first we thought someone was in trouble so Tay got out to investigate and when Ike went to get him that’s when they were jumped and they took them.”  
“They took them,” Natalie repeated slowly.  
“We’re supposed to be getting a call from someone within a day so I’m just kinda sitting here in the hotel waiting for that.”  
“They took them,” Natalie repeated again, “my husband was _abducted_ and you didn’t think to call me?”  
“It wasn’t like that I swear,” Zac went on the defence, “they gave us very specific instructions not to involve the cops, not to involve anyone else, and not to screw them over or else they’ll…”  
He trailed off and bit into his lip not wanting to say it to her of all people.  
“Or they’ll what?” she prompted.  
“Or they’re going to kill one of them,” he blurted, “that’s why they took the two of them, so they could have collateral.”  
The silence on the other end of the phone only made Zac’s heart beat faster.   
“Does Nikki know?”  
“No she doesn’t,” Zac admitted, “you’re the first person I’ve spoken to who wasn’t there.”  
“Is everyone else okay?”  
“Yeah just a bit shaken up I think,” Zac looked toward the door, “Bex is keeping busy but I think she was rattled the most. Oh and Andrew, he took it pretty hard.”  
“Do you know what they want?”  
“Not until they call, but we’re guessing money so… I was probably going to have to call you eventually.”  
Another short silence.  
“I’m sorry Nat,” Zac reiterated, “I know I should have called but I just didn’t know what to say.”  
“I get it,” Natalie assured, “but if you want access to the accounts you’re definitely going to have to tell Nikki.”  
“And probably Kate,” Zac reasoned, “if we’re going to have any chance of getting that kind of money across state lines…”  
“Are you going to call Nikki?”  
Zac paused, thinking it over.  
“I won’t lie to her if she calls me,” he assured, “but I don’t want to make any outside calls until I get the call from them.”  
“Do you want me to tell her?”  
Zac wasn’t sure what to say to that. On the one hand he didn’t want this going any further than it had to, but on the other she was Isaac’s wife. As Natalie had already implied, she had the right to know her husband was in peril.   
“You might do a better job than I would,” he relented.  
“Yes, she’ll actually be told.”  
“Just be careful,” he quickly added, “if this gets out… I mean I don’t know if this is technically against their rules or not.”  
“I’ll go over and tell her in person.”  
“And don’t tell the kids.”  
“I’m not an idiot.”  
Zac blanched as Natalie hung up, before checking the battery on Taylor’s phone. He quickly checked that neither his nor Isaac’s had rung at any point (though he was sure he’d taken them off silent already) before setting it down and falling back onto the bed.  
He hadn’t been there long before there was a soft knock on the door and he had to pull himself up again. Carefully checking through the peephole despite being sure he knew who it was, he sighed as he unlocked the door.  
“Did I hear you talking on the phone?” Bex asked as he stepped aside.  
“Yeah. To Natalie, not them,” he replied, “she heard about the radio being cancelled.”  
“That was bound to happen.”  
“Yeah,” Zac rubbed his face as he sat on the bed again, “she’s going over to Nikki’s now to tell her.”  
He sighed in the awkward moment that followed.  
“So what’s the damage?” he looked up.  
“You’re good for today,” she assured, “and the promoter is aware there’s an issue and is sending emails to all subsequent venues…”  
“Go ahead and cancel tomorrow’s everything too,” Zac shook his head, “even if they show up on the doorstep tonight we’ll be dealing with the police for who knows how long.”  
“I was going to suggest the week,” Bex looked unsure, “provided nothing… _worse_ happens, I think Ike and Tay might want to go home after this at least for a few days, don’t you think?”  
“I hadn’t even thought that far ahead,” Zac admitted, eyeing the bedside table where the three phones sat.

* 

**Wednesday Night**

As the day inevitably wore on, Taylor was finding it harder to breathe. The air in the room was stale and heavy and their only relief had come from the brief moments the door had been open.   
But it had been hours now. The girl hadn’t moved, and Taylor had given up trying to ease the strain on his hand. He might never leave this room – his hand should be the least of his worries. His breathing on the other hand…  
Isaac was feeling it too. However the heat had him feeling more drowsy than anything else, and he’d used it to calm himself down and even close his eyes for a while. He was far too tense to sleep but he was finding it too hard to stay alert all the same.  
All that changed the moment the door opened again. They knew it had to be nightfall by the time it did, but they couldn’t see daylight through the door to begin with so they couldn’t be sure. This time when one of their captors descended the stairs, he had in his hands a cell phone and a gun.  
Taylor’s back straightened the moment he saw the weapon, which made Isaac try and turn further to see. By the time he saw what Taylor was reacting to the man had made it to the bottom of the stairs and the girl had reacted by pulling back on the chain as far as she could and pinning herself against the wall.  
“Settle down,” their captor scorned in her direction, “we might not even need you if this doesn’t go well.”  
Isaac frowned at that before tensing as he came toward them instead. Pocketing the cell phone and instead pulling out a small key, Isaac’s heart raced as he lost sight of the gun while he used both hands to unlock the muzzle. Until it was pulled over his head Isaac had forgotten the tape was even there. But once the gag was thrown to the ground the man felt for the edge of the tape against his cheek and wrenched it downward until it came free.  
“Let’s get this show on the road,” he then muttered to himself, retrieving the cell phone and dialling.  
Taylor anxiously watched over his shoulder while Isaac already began to wonder why he’d been freed. Did they want him to talk to Zac? What could he possibly say to reiterate how dire of a situation they were in?  
Before he could overthink it the man was dialling. Once it was on speaker, it only rang twice.  
“This is Zac,” his voice came through.  
“I’m sure I’m not the only one glad you picked up,” the captor mused, “are you alone?”  
“Yes,” Zac responded as Isaac clenched his teeth, “we haven’t told anyone.”  
“Good to hear. So this is how it’s going to go. We’re going to make it nice and easy for you. One hundred and twenty-five thousand _each_ , in cash. If we have to kill one of them, the price goes up for the other. Can you guess to what?”  
“Two-fifty,” Zac already sounded defeated and it made Taylor cringe.  
“Well done. See? This isn’t so hard. You have three days. We’ll contact you with a location.”  
“I can’t get that kind of cash together in three days,” Zac was desperate, “we’re not in our hometown and I can’t just go down to the bank and get a loan-“  
As soon as he’d started talking Isaac flinched as the gun was raised and the safety clicked off. Without a word, the man nestled it under Taylor’s jaw.  
“NO! No please!” Isaac immediately panicked, “please don’t hurt him! He’ll work it out, I swear!”  
“Do you hear that?” the gunman said nonchalantly into the silent phone, “that’s the sound of one of your brothers begging for the others’ life. Can you guess why?”  
“Please don’t hurt them,” Zac’s voice came through quiet as Taylor groaned in his effort to lean away from the pressure.  
“It’s because I have an armed gun to his head,” the man continued, unfazed.  
“Five days!” Zac exclaimed, “give me five days! Please!”  
The pause that followed was excruciating. Both Isaac and Taylor were holding their breath. With only the dull thud of the music in the background, the sound of the safety going back on the gun was like a shot in itself.  
“You have until Sunday,” he said with finality, “I’ll call back on Saturday with details for the drop.”  
“Can I please talk to-!”  
Isaac stared at the phone as the call ended. Taylor reduced to panting as the gun was pulled away.  
“Guess it’s your lucky day,” the gunman smirked in Taylor’s direction, pocketing the phone again before locking eyes with Isaac and sliding a finger under the tape around his neck.  
He lifted it back into Isaac’s mouth – twisted though it was – before turning to the girl.  
“Looks like you’ll be useful after all,” he announced, “and you’d better work hard, or these guys are gonna starve before their time’s up.”  
Isaac frowned at that, watching as he stooped to unlock the chain around her neck. Once it was off he grabbed her by the hair causing her to cry out. Taylor just closed his eyes as she was dragged up the stairs and through the door, crying the whole way. Once the door shut behind them it was just Isaac and Taylor left alone for the first time.  
Taylor’s breathing heavied as he finally stopped to process what had just happened. How close he’d come to being shot. How fast it had happened and how utterly unable to defend himself he’d been. Suddenly frustrated beyond comprehension, he stomped his feet and wrenched at his arms as he screamed into the padded leather of the muzzle. Barely anything made it out.  
Isaac winced as the ties cut into his arms, but he knew his brother needed to vent. It had been a close call and neither of them had any ability to stop it happening again just the same. 

*

Zac frantically wiped at his eyes as he answered the door.  
“Hey,” he greeted Bex, Mike and Dee – stepping aside so they could come in.  
“Are you okay?” Bex immediately frowned.  
“I’m not going to answer that,” he mused, closing the door after them before making his way to the desk to take a seat.  
“What do they want?” Mike got down to business.  
“Quarter of a million,” Zac forced himself to breathe evenly, “which I guess in comparison isn’t a lot, but it’s still going to be hard to get together from here.”  
Dee silently put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a reassuring rub.  
“Almost like they know what you can afford,” Mike frowned.  
“We can’t afford that,” Zac scoffed.  
“But you can get it together?”  
Zac grit his teeth and lowered his eyes.  
“I need to talk to Kate,” his fingers fidgeted, “but I think between all of us we could probably get a loan. We just have to do it by Saturday.”  
“Saturday?” Mike’s brow rose.  
“They want the drop to happen Sunday,” Zac explained, “that means I have until Saturday to get it together and ready.”  
“Do you want me to call anyone?” Bex offered, “can anyone else help?”  
“Cancel the rest of the tour,” he looked up with finality, “there’s no point in continuing after this week.”  
“Do you want us to stay with you?” Dee offered.  
“Send Andrew home,” Zac insisted, “he can take his bass and all but I’m not going anywhere so we can leave the rest of the gear here. Um… I’ll have to talk to Nat and Nikki before I decide on anything else.”  
“Do you want me to call them?” Bex asked.  
“No, I need to do this myself,” Zac assured, “we need to talk finance and… I think this is better kept between the four of us.”

*

Isaac had been trying for a good two hours or so, and getting entirely frustrated in the process, but he eventually managed to push the tape out of his mouth and onto his chin. He let out a satisfied grunt once he was finally able to stretch his jaw.  
“Finally,” he breathed out.  
Taylor hadn’t been able to tell what he’d been doing, but he’d felt the pull on his arms as his brother had squirmed. At the sound of his voice he turned his head.  
“You okay?” Isaac asked over his shoulder, hoping Taylor could somehow answer him.  
Taylor grunted in the negative, knowing Isaac couldn’t help him regardless. Not if his hands were bound in the same fashion.   
“Gonna have to sit on it a little longer I think,” Isaac reasoned, “I’m not sure she’s up to helping too much just yet, and who knows what they’re doing to her up there.”  
Taylor had been too preoccupied to worry about it. The thought had him feeling a little guilty, but not only had he long ago lost feeling in his hand – his back had now been hurting for a couple of hours. Being taller than Isaac, in order for their arms to be tied he’d been hunched over in the chair. He didn’t have the option of straightening up with his brother holding him down.  
Neither problem of which he could vocalise.  
“Five days…” Isaac mumbled to himself, “hope we get off these chairs or I’m not going to be able to move in five days.”  
Taylor grunted his agreement and Isaac smirked to himself.   
“And you know, the bathroom would be nice.”  
Taylor rolled his eyes at that. He’d been trying not to think about it. He’d guessed the large tin pail underneath he staircase had been allocated to it, but neither of them would get to it without help.  
“Do you think we could move?” Isaac suddenly suggested, “I mean we’re not tied to the chairs, right?”  
Taylor frowned at that, thinking it over. He couldn’t feel a tether to the chair – that was true – but he still wasn’t sure about the slack on the chains. Or that they could even move properly with their legs taped.  
“Do you want to try?” Isaac asked after a moment’s pause.  
Taylor looked up to the chain. While it might be awkward and even painful at first, he knew if they could get to the ground they could at least lay on their sides and alleviate the stress on his back.   
“Taylor? Are you with me?”  
He took a few breaths to work himself up to it before grunting his agreement.   
“On three?” Isaac waited as he twisted a little, “we go the left. My left! Your right. Yes?”  
He waited for Taylor’s confirmation before readily clenching his fists.  
“Okay. One…”  
He shifted his feet to the left as Taylor moved his to the right.  
“Two…”  
Deep breath.  
“Three!”  
Together they pushed against each other’s backs, using themselves as leverage to lift their arms from the chair backs. Once almost-standing Taylor wobbled a bit to the right, which resulted in them falling faster than intended. They landed hard on their hips and both groaned at the pain before sitting back upright.  
“We can’t go down that way,” Isaac said the obvious, “the chains won’t reach.”  
Taylor was just glad at his confirmation that he was even aware of them at this point. The slack had picked up and the chain was barely touching his shoulder as opposed to falling against his chest. He didn’t expect Isaac’s movement however when he leant away a little in order to kick his feet out toward the chairs. Two tries saw his own topple over, but Taylor’s had moved far enough that they could at least lay down.  
“I don’t think the light’s going off,” Isaac was out of breath already, “but I’m pretty sure it’s late. Are you ready to go down?”  
Taylor closed his eyes a moment, conscious of his brother’s sweat trailing down his arm. When he felt like he had his breath back a little he grunted his agreement.  
“Okay, going down slow,” Isaac warned as he tilted his body.  
When he felt Taylor moving with him he let himself fall. Both fell hard onto their shoulders and Taylor immediately dropped his head to the floor in relief. His neck still hurt but at least he didn’t have to hold it up anymore.  
“You okay?” Isaac tested again.  
At Taylor’s confirmation Isaac let his own head rest on the floor. 

*

Zac didn’t sleep. He guessed his brothers probably hadn’t either. He hadn’t spent long on the phone with any of their wives, not wanting to waste time better spent making money. Natalie had immediately gone looking into any real estate she could liquidate while Nikki and Kate had focused on their joint accounts. Nikki had to find out if she could draw without Isaac’s signature while Kate began looking at loans they could share.   
It had all happened so fast Zac was already having trouble keeping track. He wished to be in Tulsa where he could oversee it all, but he knew he needed to stay. At least until he found out where Isaac and Taylor were.  
Which wasn’t going to happen until the weekend.  
In the meantime, all he could do was keep a constant vigil by the phone and pray.


	3. Thursday

**Thursday Morning**

Isaac and Taylor surprisingly found it a little easier to breathe while laying on the floor, despite still being attached at the upper arms. The floor had to be the coolest part of the small room.  
Still neither of them were able to sleep and they didn’t really expect to.   
It had to be hours later when the door finally came ajar. Isaac quickly looked up, worried that he’d again be gagged, but it was just in time to see the girl pushed through onto the staircase and the door close again behind her. She had something in her hands but that was all Isaac could see before he had to rest his head again.  
When he heard her footsteps reach the floor he managed to look up and see her again.  
“Are you okay?” he asked, making her jump.  
She obviously wasn’t expecting him to be able to talk. He could see now in her arms a bag of potato chips and a bottle of water, but she also had something in her right fist.  
“What have you got there?” he asked hopefully, also trying to get her to talk.  
At the question Taylor turned his head. He couldn’t see her from his angle.  
“Is it food?” Isaac prompted.  
The girl was still staring at him and she almost seemed to be in a kind of shock. But she nodded in answer, as timid as the movement was.  
“Is it only for you?” Isaac forced himself to ask, his stomach already hating him for the prospect that it might be.  
He sighed in relief when she shook her head.  
“Would it make it easier if we sat up?” he offered, Taylor holding back a groan at the thought of movement.  
She hesitated, but nodded again.  
“Come on Tay.”  
Taylor did grunt at that, but took a few breaths to prepare himself.  
“On three. One, two… three,” Isaac pushed up on his arm as he tried to sit up, Taylor coming only half a second behind him.  
The girl took a step back as they made it upright, Taylor letting out another groan once they were settled. Isaac took a deep breath already feeling himself sweating again.   
“You’re going to have to help us, I know it’s going to be awkward,” he stated the obvious, “but we’ll be really grateful for whatever you manage.”  
The girl offered him a small smile before stooping to drop the chips to the floor. Keeping an eye on her hands, Isaac soon saw that it was actually a key that had been in her right. His heart jumping with hope for a moment, he soon worked out that it was probably for Taylor’s muzzle.  
She worked to get the cap off the bottle of water before gingerly moving closer to him.  
“We won’t bite, I promise,” Isaac assured.  
“I know,” she replied quietly, taking a knee before awkwardly holding the bottle up for him.  
He couldn’t help but spill a little but he was so glad for the water that he didn’t care. Taylor felt as though his throat was almost shrivelling with anticipation, but he wasn’t even sure if he’d be able to have any yet and was trying not to get his hopes up.   
She pulled the bottle away long before Isaac was done, but he’d already taken note that it was the only one she had. It probably had to serve all three of them.   
She replaced the cap before fumbling with the key. Isaac took the time to recover and let his stomach gurgle while she worked to unlock the muzzle. Taylor’s breaths were coming faster and while he attempted to keep himself calm, he was failing.  
She soon had it off and set it aside before trying to find an edge to the tape. Taylor could feel himself getting more and more impatient as she fumbled, but he had no choice other than ‘wait’. Once the tape finally came free he coughed before clearing his throat.  
“Please, please, please… could you untie my hands?” he asked desperately, looking up into her eyes, “I know they’re cuffed anyway but I can’t feel my hands, and I haven’t since we’ve been down here. Please!”  
She’d flinched a little at his exclamation, but soon focused her attention on his hands. They were hard to see through their arms.  
“Tay?” Isaac sounded worried.  
“I don’t know I think it’s the circulation,” he had to cough again, “it’s just too tight and I can’t… I can’t get it going again.”  
He hung his head and tried to tilt his arms so she could gain access, and she was soon struggling with the knots on the bag that held his hands. They were certainly tight. But the moment the thread came free he could feel a huge difference.  
“Oh God,” he rolled his head back and closed his eyes, “thank you, thank you!”  
Now that he could move his wrists the short distance the chain allowed, he used his left hand to massage his right as the pins and needles began to take hold.  
“I need to give you a drink,” the girl reminded him.  
“Yes, I’m ready, thank you,” Taylor assured, eyes to her hands as she removed the cap again.  
“What’s your name?” Isaac asked her as Taylor drank his share.  
“Cathy,” she responded, still hesitant with interaction.  
“Cathy,” Isaac tested it, “I saw you at the show the other night.”  
“And now I’m here,” she responded, a little perturbed.  
She pulled the bottle away from Taylor as he struggled to cut off.   
“I’m sorry,” Isaac apologised, “I don’t know how you got involved but I’m sorry.”  
Taylor grunted his agreement as he worked to catch his breath again.  
“Why are you here?” he asked straight out as she took the bottle away, “how did it happen?”  
“Are they hurting you?” Isaac added, trying not to let him sound accusing.  
She took a small mouthful of water herself before replacing the cap and setting the bottle down by the far wall. As she reached for the chips instead Isaac realised she wasn’t going to answer.  
“It’s okay,” he tried to reassure, “we just want to-“  
“I have to feed you,” she cut him off, “and put those things on again. Before they come back.”  
Isaac eyed where the muzzles sat aside as she indicated them.  
“Is that your job?” he asked as Taylor winced at the idea of having to wear it again, “is that why you’re here? So they don’t have to?”  
She shrugged before breaking open the packet.   
“The less we see them the less chance we have of identifying them,” Taylor reasoned, “that’s good news. It means they might keep their word and let us go.”  
“Might?” Isaac’s brow rose.  
“If we don’t get shot first,” Taylor amended as she returned to Isaac’s side.  
She awkwardly managed to feed both of them a third of the supply each, and it wasn’t long before they realised another problem. The chips were salty and they were already thirsty again because of them, but there was only enough water left for the girl. Knowing nothing could or would be done about it, neither Isaac or Taylor chose to say anything.

*

“I can’t touch the accounts. I mean I can, but not to that extent,” Nikki was regretful.  
Zac winced and rubbed his face.  
“Nat’s probably going to have the same problem then,” he realised out loud.  
“She wasn’t optimistic to begin with that’s why she was looking at the houses.”  
“So time for plan B,” he tried not to let it rattle him too much, “we need to sell the cars, any of the studio equipment… anything we can for cash. We only have three days left so it needs to be fast.”  
“I can call Jess and have her meet Kate and me at the studio. Between the three of us-“  
“Does Jess know?” Zac frowned.  
“…Not yet I don’t think.”  
“Then don’t involve her,” Zac pleaded, “I really don’t know how much leeway we have with these guys and I don’t know how close they’re watching. If you and Kate can do it yourselves, you need to.”  
“We can try, but…”  
“Please!” Zac felt himself getting desperate.  
There was a pause on the line, and then a sigh.  
“I’ll see what I can do. Have you spoken to Kate this morning?”  
“She was going back to the bank last I heard, that was about an hour ago. You might not get hold of her for a while.”  
“Should I wait?”  
“No,” Zac insisted, “go yourself, just keep trying her. We don’t have the time to wait for anyone for anything.”

*

For some time the brothers hoped that Cathy had forgotten the rest of her orders, but once she’d finished the rest of the chips for herself she’d made her way over to collect Taylor’s muzzle.  
“Wait! Wait,” he jolted, making Isaac wince as the ties cut into his arms again, “we could leave them off until they come back, right?”  
“Do you really want to get shot?” Isaac scorned over his shoulder, not looking forward to wearing his again either.  
“It’s too hard to breathe!” Taylor hit back, “it’s already hard without it! And if I _am_ going to die down here, I do not want it to be wearing that. Please, Cathy, I will take full responsibility. Just say I made it too hard for you, I wouldn’t keep still or whatever.”  
“I don’t like this,” Isaac shook his head as Cathy stood by awkwardly.  
“It’s going to be another twenty-four hours before we get more water, you think what they gave us is going to be enough?” Taylor tried to reason.  
“And what if we’re not the ones who get in trouble for it? What then? You don’t know what they’ve been doing to her up there!”  
“It’s okay,” Cathy got in before Taylor could retort, “I’ll say it was too hot.”  
“What are they doing up there?” Isaac only partially changed the subject, now worried about what she would be getting herself into, “are they there the whole time?”  
She nodded before looking up to the door.  
“Are there more than five?” Taylor thought to ask.  
“I haven’t seen more.”  
“What do they do all day? Or night? Do you know what it is now?”  
“It’s Thursday morning. Or it was when I came back,” Cathy relented, “they kept me up there overnight.”  
The brothers paused at that, taking in the connotations that came with it.   
“What are they making you do?” Isaac asked straight, “they said you’d have to work for them.”  
Cathy dropped Taylor’s muzzle down beside Isaac’s and turned her back.  
“Are they assaulting you?” his brow furrowed worriedly.  
“If I don’t do what they want then we don’t get fed, okay? None of us,” she insisted as she went to sit on the stairs, “I don’t want to talk about it.”  
“Ike hold still,” Taylor insisted softly, trying to take his mind off it, “I’ll try and get that thing off your hands.”  
Isaac kept his eye on Cathy as she avoided his gaze, but let Taylor have a go at the knots on the leather pouch. It didn’t take too long for him to get it off which Isaac took to mean he had the feeling back in his hands. 

*

“I can have the two hundred by Saturday but I don’t know about the fifty.”  
“You’re amazing,” Zac insisted.  
“Not amazing Zac, desperate. And I managed to call in some favors. Between letting some property go and getting some wealthy donations-“  
“Wait, what did you tell them?” Zac frowned, suddenly worried.   
“Don’t worry, nothing specific. And I promised it would be paid back in full. Provided everything goes to plan.”  
“How are you getting it here?”  
“I’ll drive it down myself if I have to,” Natalie insisted, “but we’ll get it there. I think flying with it would be too risky.”  
“I agree.”  
“Do you think Kate and Nikki will make up the fifty between them?”  
“I’ve got them at the studio today looking for things to sell. If we get them online by the morning hopefully that’ll make up some numbers. This is provided Kate doesn’t get the loan she went for this morning.”  
“Haven’t heard anything?”  
“Not yet, no.”  
“I’ll give her a call and see what’s happening. Hold tight Zac. We can do this.”

* 

**Thursday Night**

Taylor grit his teeth as the door opened that night, knowing he was likely to be in trouble. But when their captor simply came down the stairs to retrieve Cathy without so much as giving the brothers a glance… he wasn’t sure he felt any better for it.  
“Maybe he didn’t notice?” Isaac suggested once the door had closed.  
“Maybe if we stay quiet they won’t even care,” Taylor added, unsure.  
“Want to lay down again?”  
“Not yet,” Taylor shook his head, keeping his eye on the door, “it was cutting up my arms last time.”  
“We could try and get these off,” Isaac suggested, “try clenching the muscle or-“  
“No,” Taylor insisted, “we’re too weak and our arms are too cut up. Or mine are, so I assume yours are.”  
“Yeah they are,” Isaac admitted, looking down at his feet, “I think I need to ask her to take my shoes off too. If our feet touch the floor it might be cooler.”  
“Maybe.”  
They sat in silence for a time, just listening to the thump of the music overhead. They’d heard the same playlist repeat multiple times over already and it was about to start again. Isaac took the time to fiddle with the cuff he now had access to, but they somehow felt tighter now than they had in the van. He figured his wrists had swollen somewhat with the heat.  
“So that’s what chloroform smells like,” he attempted to break the silence.  
“Really?!” Taylor scorned.  
“My watch is gone,” he quickly changed subject.  
“Yeah. Mine too,” Taylor confirmed, “why would they take them?”  
“They’ve taken anything that might identify us,” Isaac shrugged carefully, “a watch is no different I guess.”  
Taylor was about to respond when the door suddenly opened again. Not expecting it to for many hours yet, it made both of them jump.  
The man that came through struggled to find his footing on the top stair and Taylor frowned when he realised he was holding an open beer bottle. He staggered into the railing – almost falling over it – before making his way down.  
“Ike,” Taylor spoke under his breath, giving him a nudge, “he’s drunk.”  
By the time Isaac could see him, he’d almost fallen down the last few stairs already and had stopped to lean against the wall.   
“Just be cool,” Isaac straightened his back a little as both kept their eyes on him.  
After taking another swig he stumbled forward. He stood at the end of the stair rail and took a moment to just stare down at Isaac. Isaac took note that even his balaclava was on crooked.  
“Who the fuck are you?”  
Isaac blanched and he felt Taylor flinch. He legitimately sounded confused.  
“What do you mean?” Isaac frowned.  
“Who… the fuck…” he leant forward, nearly falling into Isaac’s lap as he pointed a finger into his face, “are you? Why… are you important?”  
“He doesn’t know who we are?” Taylor turned his head.  
“I wasn’t talking to you.”  
“I don’t think so,” Isaac responded, knowing Taylor probably couldn’t see the state of him.  
Let alone smell the alcohol on his breath.  
“Who ARE you?!”  
“We’re musicians,” Isaac tried to lean back as he got closer, “a lot of people know who we are.”  
“I don’t.”  
“You’d abduct us without knowing who we were?” Taylor wasn’t sure whether to believe him.  
“I wasn’t talking to you!”  
“Hey! It’s okay!” Isaac tried to pacify him as he moved around to Taylor’s side.  
“Someone had to decide we were worth going after,” Taylor insisted, “you weren’t just going to grab the first people who came into that tunnel. You were waiting for us!”  
Taylor saw it coming but he couldn’t duck away. The glass bottle connected with his forehead and Isaac felt him go down.  
“Taylor?! Tay?!” he tried to keep him upright.  
A groan told him he hadn’t been knocked out at least.  
“Fuck you!” the man was pointing at him, “you’re just a dollar to me. You’re not even a big score.”  
“Tay?” Isaac tried to pull him up, “are you okay?!”  
“What are you doing?”  
Both Isaac and the masked man looked up to the open doorway where another captor now stood. He didn’t look happy. From what Isaac could see. The drunk man didn’t answer prompting the other to make his way down.  
“You shouldn’t be down here.”  
“Fuck them!” he exclaimed, possibly not even sure of where he was anymore.  
The other came to Taylor’s side, grunting when he saw what had happened. Not expecting it Taylor flinched back when he felt fingertips on his forehead, before managing to keep still once he realised he was inspecting the wound.  
“You’re lucky it wasn’t an inch to the right.”  
“Whatever,” the drunk grumbled.  
“Get out!” he stood to order, “you’ve done enough damage, do you want to be paid or not?!”  
He took another swig from the now almost empty bottle before grumbling and heading for the stairs.  
“And you two. If you don’t shut up those gags won’t come off next time,” the man said pointedly, before turning to follow his comrade.  
Once he got him up the stairs he closed and locked the door behind him. Isaac sighed in relief that they hadn’t just been gagged again then and there before trying to see over his shoulder.  
“Tay?” he tried again.  
“I’m okay,” he replied quietly, “just one hell of a headache.”  
“Better stay awake for a while,” Isaac warned.  
“Like I could sleep.”  
Isaac looked back up to the door. With it being open for a while the room had managed to drop its temperature a little, but he knew it wouldn’t be long before it was up again.  
“Do you remember what the weather was supposed to be here this week?” he frowned.  
“What? No,” Taylor scorned, trying to bring his knees in to hold his head with, “we weren’t supposed to be here that long.”  
“Just wondering.”


	4. Friday

**Friday Morning**

“Can you get to the bank?” Kate asked.  
“I can find one,” Zac’s eyes narrowed, not really wanting to leave the room, “why?”  
“They need your signature so they can process the loan. If you can’t get there we may be able to fax it to your hotel.”  
“That sounds like a better idea,” Zac insisted, “if I have to leave the hotel there’s a chance people are going to notice and start asking questions.”  
“How’s Bex taking it?”  
“I haven’t spoken to her today, but I think it’s keeping her mind off it. Which sounds like an oxymoron but…”  
“She’s keeping busy, I get it. I haven’t had time to really stop and think either.”  
“Do you think the loan is a sure thing?”  
“I believe it is. We should get at least thirty.”  
Zac breathed a sigh of relief at that.  
“Between that and what we’ve pulled from the studio, as long as Nat comes through we should be fine.”  
Zac didn’t respond to that. He was too worried the other parties wouldn’t pull through on their end, even if they fronted the money. How many times had these scenarios had a happy ending?  
“Should I ask them to fax the paperwork through for you to sign?”  
“Yes, thanks,” he snapped out of it.  
“What’s the number there?”

*

At the brothers’ request Cathy had fed them before giving them water this time. They hadn’t been given any more than they had the day before. She’d also had a quick look at Taylor’s wound but there’d been nothing more she could do.  
“Cathy, can we ask another favor?” he’d asked as she pulled away from it, “I know we have no right to.”  
She paused to wait, eyes on him.  
“These ties on our arms,” he glanced down to indicate, “can you move them down? They’re only tight because they’re so high, and our body heat isn’t exactly helping each other out.”  
“He’s right,” Isaac agreed.  
“Please,” Taylor tried not to beg, “we are obviously not going anywhere, we’re just in a lot of pain right now.”  
“Especially him,” Isaac nodded.  
Cathy was chewing on her lip as she eyed the ties, not giving away whether she was going to or not.  
“I could try,” she suggested, “but I don’t know if it’ll work.”  
“Even if it doesn’t, it’s worth a try,” Taylor insisted, “please?”  
She knelt beside Taylor’s left arm/Isaac’s right, and tentatively touched the hard plastic. The wound beneath it on both arms began to weep a little.  
“It’s going to hurt,” she warned as she tried to get her finger beneath it, “but I should be able to…”  
“Just do it, don’t warn us,” Isaac insisted.  
Taylor took a deep breath and held it, trying not to tense up. It would only make it harder. So without warning, Cathy wrenched the first tie down.  
Taylor let out a yelp as it ripped against his skin, Isaac managing to keep his teeth clenched and dispel his outcry. But she managed to get it down to their elbows and subsequently down to the cuffs. For the first time the brothers pulled away from each other, falling to the other side a little as they balanced.  
“Well that hurt,” Isaac said the obvious, Taylor grunting in agreement.  
He looked across at him for the first time as Cathy stepped away.  
“Wow you look terrible,” his brow furrowed.  
“You’re not so hot yourself,” Isaac mused, taking in the wound on Taylor’s forehead.  
A trail of dried blood followed his hairline down to his temple.  
“I know but you’re like… really red. Are you feeling okay?” Taylor frowned.  
“Aside from being held captive in a basement somewhere?!”  
“Do you want me to try the other one?” Cathy offered before it could get heated.  
“Yes, thank you,” Isaac took the bait.  
They worked to sit side by side as she came at them from the back this time, this tie a little harder to free. Being the dominant arm to both brothers they’d fought against this restraint more. But once it was free and they were finally able to pull apart from each other, both felt it was well worth it.  
“We might be able to break them if we pull hard enough,” Taylor suggested as Cathy backed away, able to feel with his hands where the ties now sat around their cuffs.  
“Later,” Isaac immediately fell onto his side, “if they’re not coming back for a few hours I need to try and sleep.”  
“Is that really a great idea?” Taylor wasn’t sure.  
“There’s nothing else to do.”

* 

**Friday Afternoon**

Zac was signing the papers Kate had managed to fax through when there was a knock at his door in the late afternoon. Tiredly rubbing his eyes, he stood from the desk and went to check the peephole.  
Seeing that it was Bex, he quickly unlocked and opened the door.  
“Hey,” he greeted, “is something wrong?”  
“No,” she assured as he closed the door behind her, “I just came to let you know I’ve cancelled all your upcoming appointments and events. You only have this to focus on now.”  
“Thanks Bex,” he sighed and headed back to his desk, “you can head back to Tulsa if you want.”  
“I don’t,” she insisted, not following him, “but I don’t know what I can do to help.”  
“You’ve already been a huge help,” Zac assured, “I don’t know what we’d do without you.”  
“Do you need me to co-ordinate anything? The money collection? Digital transfers?”  
Zac paused, staring down at the last page of the loan.  
“Not yet,” he admitted, “but I might tomorrow. Natalie should have the bulk of it by then and she’ll need to get it down here somehow.”  
“I’ll check in with you in the morning then,” Bex turned to leave, sensing that he wanted to be alone.  
“Bex?” he looked up as her hand poised on the door, “uh… thank you. I wouldn’t have thought of that. So… thanks for keeping my head straight.”  
“I try,” she smiled, before heading out.  
Zac took a deep breath and let it go before finding his place on the page and continuing down the contract. With one final signature it was ready to be faxed back to the bank.

* 

**Friday Night**

By the time they returned to collect Cathy for the night, Taylor was feeling the effects of the heat and felt as though he’d almost passed out a couple of times. But he managed to stay upright, keeping his hands still so as not to disturb Isaac’s sleep.  
It wasn’t until Isaac didn’t stir at the intrusion that Taylor’s heart suddenly leapt into his throat.  
“Ike?” he shook his hands, making the cuffs rattle.  
Isaac's hands felt limp.  
“Ike…? IKE?!”  
He couldn’t move his arms enough to try and shake him awake, but he grabbed his brother’s wrist and started trying to check for a pulse. It was hard to gauge with his own blood pumping so hard.  
“What’s the noise down here?” a gruff voice demanded from the stairs, Taylor not bothering to look up at him.  
“Help us!” his voice broke with urgency, “I can’t… I can’t find a pulse! Help him!”  
By the time Taylor got the words out the captor had knelt to Isaac’s side and rolled him onto his back. Taylor fell back a little as his hands were pulled under, but kept a careful eye as the man checked Isaac’s temperature and lifted an eyelid.  
Taylor could see that he was still breathing and tried to tell himself that he must have had a pulse. He was so focused on Isaac’s chest that he must have jumped four inches when the man yelled out.  
“Get down here! We got a problem!”  
“No, no, no!” Taylor was starting to really panic, mixed with aggravation at not having his hands free.  
Footfalls hit the stairs as two more came into the room. Taylor paid them no mind.  
“Hold him,” the one kneeling ordered, before one of them took him by the shoulders.  
“What’s wrong?!” Taylor could barely breathe, trying to keep his head turned as he was pushed aside, “please, don’t let anything happen to him!”  
He heard something snap and realised the first man had used a knife to cut through the cable ties.  
“Move him.”  
“No!” Taylor felt himself being taken under the arms and dragged back toward the wall, “let me help him! Please!”  
“We’ve got it,” the man that now stood over him insisted before pointing into his face, “stay there!”  
He didn’t move as Taylor shifted to look around him, seeing that the chain had been removed from Isaac’s throat. It was thrown aside as the two prepared to move him.  
When Taylor realised he was being taken from the room, his heart rate elevated yet again.  
“Where are you taking him?!” he exclaimed, “what are you going to do?!”  
“Shut him up!” one of them grunted.  
“Please don’t hurt him!” Taylor wasn’t paying attention, “we haven’t done anything! He just went to sleep! It’s too hot in here and-“  
“SHUT UP!” the man over him yelled, reaching over to grab him by the hair.  
Taylor jumped at the shock, but his eyes didn’t leave his brother. They managed to haphazardly get him up the stairs, and Taylor’s heart skipped a beat at the thought that it might be the last time he ever saw him.  
“Wait!” his voice broke as he was left alone with the man who had hold of him, “please take me with him. I need to know he’s okay!”  
He yelped as his head suddenly hit the wall. Having used it to distract him, when Taylor opened his eyes again he saw the muzzle in the man’s hand.  
“Please don’t,” he shook his head pitifully, “I just want to know he’s okay.”  
But it meant nothing. Once he’d been silenced, for the first time he was left alone in the room.  
He leant back against the wall as he strained to listen through the door, but the music was still pumping too loud to make anything out. 

*

“I’ve got it, I’m on my way!”  
“What? How?” Zac frowned.  
“I’m driving, we’re leaving right now. We should be there tomorrow night.”  
“We?” Zac felt his heart skip a beat, “who else did you tell?!”  
“Relax Zac, it’s Matt. I didn’t tell him anything I just said Tay needed something urgently and Fed-Exing wasn’t going to cut it. He’s going to take over the driving when I feel like passing out.”  
“Be careful,” Zac insisted, “I don’t know what they know. Don’t stop for anyone or anything.”  
“Except food, right?” Natalie mused, “what room are you in?”  
“403. Give me or Bex a call when you get here and one of us will come down.”  
“Done.”  
“And keep me updated,” he insisted, “I want to know you’re doing okay.”


	5. Saturday

**Saturday Morning**

Taylor didn’t look up when the door opened again, too worried it would be a man with a gun. He hadn’t moved from the wall and he didn’t intend to.  
At the sound of lighter footsteps his eyes rose to see Cathy, this time with two bottles of water and the usual packet of chips.  
His eyes fell again as she made it to the floor and set one of the bottles down before fumbling with the key to the muzzle. She soon came to his side to remove it. He exercised his jaw at the sudden freedom as his mind raced for the right thing to ask first.  
“He’s okay,” Cathy spoke first, making Taylor’s eyes dart to hers, “they think it was heatstroke. They put him in an ice bath and… they have him blindfolded, but he’s otherwise okay.”  
Taylor took a moment to process it before leaning his head back against the wall.  
“He should be fine.”  
“I don’t know what – if any – influence you might have up there,” Taylor’s voice was raspy with misuse, “but please don’t let them hurt him. Don’t let them kill him.”  
“I don’t really-“  
“Please,” Taylor was trying not to get emotional, and failing, “we nearly lost him once.”  
He shook his head as he looked her in the eye.  
“We can’t go through that again. Especially not like this. We can’t lose him like this.”  
She stared back for a time before awkwardly breaking eye contact. Taylor rapidly blinked to clear his eyes.  
“You should eat something,” she suggested as he pulled himself together.  
He cleared his throat as she opened the packet, preparing it for more salt.   
“Where are you from?” he decided he needed a distraction, “are you from Miami?”  
“Orlando,” she replied, “I came down for the show.”  
“Where did they pick you up?” he frowned, “I mean, did they know?”  
“I don’t think so,” she replied as she began to feed him, “I was alone at the train station.”  
Taylor paused to think of how scary that must have been for her. They still didn’t know what the men’s plans for her were – they couldn’t even get a hint with the amount of constant noise from upstairs.  
“Do you see their faces?” he asked on his next breather, “when you’re up there at night, do they take their masks off?”  
“Sometimes,” she admitted, obviously not wanting to talk about it.  
“Sometimes?” he confirmed, “have you overheard anything? About what their plans are for Sunday?”  
“They haven’t talked about it,” she replied, feeding him some more.  
Taylor tried to think of some way to keep her talking, but it was hard enough to keep his head clear in the heat. He didn’t need to work himself up so much that he’d join his brother in the ice bath.   
He had to cough once he’d swallowed again and she reached for the water to counter it. As he ducked his head to get to the bottle, his chin caught on the chain and it made him look up for a moment.  
“What is it?” Cathy asked, looking up too.  
“Nothing,” his eyes fell again, looking for the water, “just the timely reminder that hey, this is real.”  
“I’m sorry,” Cathy offered, finally giving him a drink.  
He tried not to take too much, but at the same time figured they had two bottles now. He easily downed half of it before pulling away and causing some of it to fall down his neck.  
It was invitingly cool.  
“Is Ike chained up there?” he asked once he had his breath back.  
“Yeah,” she admitted, “but he’s being taken care of. He’s just blindfolded.”  
Taylor figured he must have had a headache by now from the music alone, but wondered if he was overhearing anything important.  
“Can you do me a favor?” he asked as she began to eat something herself.  
He waited until she made eye contact again.  
“That half bottle of water,” he indicated with his eyes, “can you just pour half of it over my head?”  
“Are you sure?” she frowned.  
“I’m very sure,” he insisted, “just half of it though. I’ll save the rest.”

*

“Hey,” Zac tiredly answered his phone after another restless night.  
“Hey… how are you holding up?”  
“This is the worst week of my life, but other than that,” Zac mused, “yeah I’m okay. How did you go?”  
“Nikki and I went down to the bank this morning and made all the transfers. Everything we managed to get is now in the business account, which we figured you should be able to draw from yourself down there.”  
“The whole fifty?”  
“Not quite but what you have in there already should more than make up the balance. We already called the local bank in Miami to warn them there was a large withdrawal coming out. All they need is for you to get down there.”  
Zac took a deep breath. He hadn’t been looking forward to this part.  
“Okay.”  
“Okay?”  
“Yes. I will work something out and get down there,” he promised, “is it all ready to go?”  
“If it isn’t, it should be in the next couple of hours. I told them you’d be there around lunch.”  
“Great,” he rubbed at his eyes, already wondering if he should take Bex with him, “how are the kids?”  
“They still don’t know. I don’t think Nat or Nikki have told theirs either,” Kate admitted, “I think we’re just going to see how the weekend pans out. Have you heard from Nat?”  
“I had a text from her when I woke up saying they were swapping drivers. They should be here tonight,” Zac nodded to himself, “provided nothing goes wrong.”  
“Don’t even joke,” Kate was serious, “have you heard from… _them_?”  
“No, but they said they’d call today,” his voice gave away his nerves, “hopefully not while I’m out.”  
“How are they calling you?”  
“They cloned Tay’s phone, and they call mine,” Zac looked down at his brothers’ cells, both sitting on the desk, “but I have Ike’s here just in case too.”  
“Can you leave someone with them and just take yours?”  
“I was thinking Mike,” Zac admitted, “he seems to have his head on straight about this and everyone else is kind’ve strung out. But I’m sure they’ll call the same way, they know I’ll be waiting for it.”  
“Well keep in touch,” Kate insisted, “call me the second you hear anything. Don’t call Nat, she needs to keep her sense for the drive.”  
“I won’t,” Zac promised, “but I’ll text you as soon as I get back with the money.”

*

“Have they said anything to you about what they’ll do with you from tomorrow?” Taylor asked, trying to distract himself, “do you get to come with us, provided they let us go?”  
“They haven’t said,” Cathy shook her head, eyes down.  
“You don’t seem worried,” he observed, “I mean our situation’s bad enough, but at least we kinda know what’s going to happen. One way or another.”  
She just shrugged. Taylor waited for a response, soon giving in and exercising his right shoulder instead.  
“Do you not care?” he asked when he couldn’t take it anymore.  
“I care,” she became defensive, “I just don’t know, and I don’t want to panic over it so I don’t want to think about it.”  
“I’m sorry,” he quickly backtracked, though he was glad to get something out of her at least, “I know we all have our different ways of dealing.”  
The quiet in the room was beginning to send him stir crazy, but he didn’t want to push her. The air was tense enough already.  
He leant his head back against the wall and closed his eyes, not wanting to see the chain hanging before him. Maybe he’d get some sleep.  
Maybe he’d get the last sleep he’d ever have.

*

Zac still had his cell phone in his hand when he froze outside the bank. It took Bex putting a hand on his shoulder to snap him out of it.  
“I’m okay,” he assured before she asked, “let’s get this over with.”  
He found it hard to simply put the phone in his pocket during his meeting with the teller in a private room. However he was soon sobered at the sight of all the money as the teller counted it out in front of him. He found himself wishing they hadn’t asked for so much purely so that it could be counted faster and he could get back to the hotel. It took a good fifteen minutes once he was in there to have it counted and to finish the paperwork, and he felt a lot better once he was finally outside with it all.  
The first thing he did was take out his phone again.  
“Ready?” Bex asked, indicating the direction of their van.  
He nodded and followed in silence, wanting to text Kate but also worried he might get the call at the same time and not be focused enough. He let out a huge sigh of relief when he got back to the room to find Mike hadn’t had a call either.

* 

**Saturday Night**

Soon after Cathy was again taken for the night, Taylor began to eye off his bottle of water. There was still a bit left and he knew the room was already as hot as it would get until morning. He managed to reach over and clamp onto the cap with his teeth, lifting it into his lap where he could let it rest. By squeezing it between his legs and stomach he managed to hold it still enough that he could use his teeth to unscrew the cap.   
In an attempt to not spill any of it, he manoeuvred it up his legs as far as he could before tilting it back into his mouth. He couldn’t help but spill a little but managed to get most of what was left down his throat. When it was gone he cast the bottle aside and leant back again.  
He wasn’t sure it had helped, but he felt a bit cooler where it had spilled down him at least.  
He counted five seconds before the door opened again.  
With no sign of Cathy he was hopeful they were bringing Isaac back down… until he realised four of them were making their way onto the stairs. The door was closed behind them.  
Worried now, he eyed their leader. The moment he hit the floor he’d pulled the gun from his belt again.  
“What’s going on?” his eyes widened further as he tried to push himself back against the wall.  
The man wasn’t slowing as he came toward him, using his free hand to grab his hair.  
“Shut him up,” the second in line ordered.  
“What? Wait!”   
He saw the tape in the hands of the third and his back stiffened again.   
“Get on your knees!” the one who had hold of his hair was trying to pull him up.  
“What’s going on?!” Taylor’s eyes were on the tape as he lost balance and his weight fell into the grip, “where’s Ike?! We had another day!”  
It was all he could get out before the tape went over his mouth. His questions were ignored.  
They managed to pull him onto his knees in time to see the gun coming for him. As it nestled against his temple he caught sight of the fourth man holding the phone that had been used to call Zac. Panicking for a moment that they were simply going to broadcast his death, he was jolted awake again by something hitting him in the chest.  
It was a newspaper. It took the camera flash going off twice before Taylor realised what was going on, and then they were done with him.  
He was shoved down onto his side as the men took their leave, left on the floor to catch his breath. 

*

Zac was standing at the window, hoping to see Natalie’s car coming down the street. Just in case they came from a different direction he still kept his phone in his hand.   
He wasn’t expecting it to go off when it did, and keeping the volume at a maximum meant he nearly threw it across the room by accident.  
Registering that it was a text instead of a call, he quickly pulled himself together before opening it. Just like before, it appeared to have come from Taylor’s phone.  
At the sight of the photos that came through he had to take a seat on the bed. He barely had time to do that before the phone rang.  
“Yes?”  
“Is this Zac Hanson?”  
It was a different voice.  
“Yes,” he replied, suddenly hoping Natalie wouldn’t turn up.  
“Did you see them?”  
“I did.”  
“Good. Then you know they’re still alive. For how much longer is up to you.”  
“I have the money,” Zac quickly defended, “or I will have it. Tonight.”  
“Good. Meet us down at Little Haiti Park, the entrance off North-East 2nd,” the voice instructed, “3pm should do it. Plenty of kids around by then.”  
“Is that such a good idea?” Zac was confused.  
“We think it’s a great idea. Don’t bring anybody and everything will be fine. We’ll be watching.”  
Before Zac could say anything else the call ended. He almost didn’t pull the phone from his ear, knowing he’d see the photos on screen again. But before he had to make the decision a knock on the door startled him just as much as the messages had.  
He threw the phone onto the bed and went to answer.   
“Hey guys,” he greeted, pulling Natalie in for a hug before she even got through the door.  
Matt followed, carrying both a backpack and shoulder bag. Zac took a quick look down the hall – getting a wave from Bex – before closing the door after them.  
“Did Bex let you up?”  
“Well we tried calling you and got no answer,” Natalie obviously wasn’t happy, setting her handbag on the desk as Matt dumped his bags on the floor, “do you have it all?”  
“All but your part,” Zac assured, going to the room’s safe.  
Despite not having left the room besides going to get it, he’d kept it in there just in case. He carefully began to transfer it all onto the bed. Matt would have been impressed if he didn’t have so much more already in his possession.  
And just when Zac finished, he took the backpack and turned it upside down, spilling its contents onto the bed too.  
“Should we count it?” Zac looked worried.  
“We triple checked, and the bank counted it in front of us. The bags haven’t left our sight since Tulsa,” Natalie assured.  
“Okay,” Zac relented.  
“Is yours definitely all there?” Matt asked.  
“I triple checked,” Zac assured.  
“Were you asleep?” Natalie was looking him over, “is that why you didn’t answer your phone?”  
“No,” Zac already knew he looked bad, “I had a call from them.”  
“Them?” Matt’s brow rose.  
“Yeah,” Zac scratched his head, “they set up the meeting. Tomorrow at three. At a park just north of here.”  
“Three in the afternoon?” Matt frowned.  
“Why not tonight? Why not get this over with?” Natalie’s expression matched her brother’s.  
“I don’t know,” Zac shrugged.  
“Did you talk to them? Like, how do you know they’re…” Matt trailed off.  
Natalie immediately noticed the look Zac gave Matt.   
“What is it?” she demanded, folding her arms.  
Zac winced not realising he’d done it. But knowing she’d find out eventually, he reached over for where the phone had fallen.  
Trying not to look at them himself, he pulled up the two photos of Taylor and handed her the phone. Not seeing them properly at first she pulled it closer.  
“Oh my God.”  
Her other hand flew to her mouth and she fell into a sit on the bed. Matt rushed to her side.  
“It’s okay,” he sat beside her, “we’re getting him back tomorrow, remember?”  
Natalie nodded, unable to speak.  
“Could you talk to them?” Matt looked up.  
“No, they just sent photos,” Zac rubbed his face again tiredly, “the last I heard was from Ike on the first day.”  
“Are there photos of him?” Matt asked.  
“Yeah, there is,” Zac eyed the phone Natalie still held, “but he’s blindfolded so…”  
He didn’t want to say out loud that he couldn’t actually tell if his brother were even alive in the photos. Instead he turned and went into the bathroom to wash his face.  
Matt made to take the phone from Natalie’s hand but she stubbornly held onto it.

*

Taylor felt as though he’d only just managed to get his breath back when he heard the door open again. Hoping it was Cathy he managed to look up at the stairs, just in time to see a fountain of water come rushing over.  
The initial impact hit him in the shoulder, but he was soon covered from head to knee. The water was ice cold and once again took his breath away. By the time he recovered enough to look up again he saw the intruder taking an empty plastic bucket back through the door and closing it behind him.  
Then the cold began to set in. The water either had ice in it, or it had been kept in a fridge. But even though it made him shiver he was glad to finally feel cool.  
If only they’d done this for Isaac earlier, he might still be down there.  
At least they were worried now. That meant they had good reason to keep him alive. He just hoped it didn’t mean Isaac wasn’t.


	6. Sunday

**Early Sunday Morning**

Zac jolted awake. It was only once he sat up that he realised he’d even fallen asleep. Figuring he’d simply woken himself up with the stress, he was surprised when he heard a soft knock at the door.  
Not knowing how long they’d already been there he pulled himself up a little too fast and had to lean against the desk to get his bearings. By the time he made it to the peephole he saw Natalie walking away.  
“Hey!” he quickly opened the door, “sorry, I fell asleep.”  
“Sorry for waking you,” she turned back.  
He could see she’d been crying. With a quick look down the hallway to make sure she was alone, he indicated for her to step inside.  
Once he’d closed the door he pulled her into a hug.  
“Not long now, it’ll all be over,” he promised.  
“Zac I’m scared.”  
“I am too.”  
He continued to hold her as she cried into his shoulder, knowing she just needed to get it out. When she finally pulled back a little he led her over to the bed.  
“I don’t know how you’re doing it,” she wiped at her eyes.  
“Practice,” Zac mused, “I’ve been here all week.”  
“And Taylor’s been _there_ all week,” she took a deep breath, “God please let him be okay.”  
Zac wanted to say that he was sure he was, but with the photos coming to mind he held himself back. He hadn’t looked great in those. In fact he’d looked pretty out of it.  
The reminder made him think of Isaac’s, in which he’d barely moved between each shot and he couldn’t see his eyes.  
“Are you sure you can do this today?” Natalie broke his concentration.  
“I don’t really have a choice,” he reasoned, “they want me – I’m not going to send anyone else.”  
“Maybe we can call the police on the way there,” she suggested, “have them meet you at the park. They can catch them on the way out.”  
Zac was already shaking his head.  
“I don’t want to risk it,” he insisted, “if this thing goes sideways I’ll be the first to call, but… I don’t want to risk them getting hurt if this plan could play out simple enough.”  
“Do you think it will?”  
“I don’t know,” he whispered, unable to raise his voice.  
Natalie looked up before reaching an arm around his shoulders. He stubbornly wiped some tears away before hanging his head and sitting in silence for a moment.  
“I need to say something,” she eventually broke the silence.  
“Okay.”  
“I need you to know that, despite what’s been said or what might be said… no matter what goes down tomorrow, no one thinks this is your fault.”  
She gave his shoulder a squeeze.  
“We all know you’ve done your best on this. We need you to know that.”  
Zac couldn’t help but smirk a little.  
“How about we reserve all judgement for tomorrow?” he suggested, “you know, provided it’s over by then.”  
“It will be,” Natalie said with determination, "it has to be. This can’t go on forever.”

* 

**Sunday Afternoon**

Taylor had no idea how long he’d been laying in the puddle on the floor. He knew Cathy was late coming back. He knew he was already weak from the lack of food and water. But he also knew today was the day.  
He was almost too afraid to move.  
By the time the door did open he’d just barely managed to fall asleep again. Once more hoping it was Cathy, he let out a grunt when he realised there were boots on the stairs.  
Sure enough he was soon dragged from the floor and when he looked up they were removing the chain from the hook in the ceiling. His heart leapt into his throat when he recognised that this was it.  
His eyes went to where their leader once again armed his gun, before another revealed a strip of dark cloth. Now that they had hold of his hair as well as his shirt he couldn’t duck away as the blindfold was fastened.  
Then he was lifted from the floor. One had hold of his legs, another had hold of his shoulders. He felt himself being taken up the stairs… and suddenly the music was so much louder.  
He couldn’t hear anyone talking, and the next thing he felt was his thigh hitting something hard. It took half a second to realise it was the floor of the van as he was being lifted into it. Once his back hit the side they let go of his arms in order to move the chain, and the sound of it rattling against the floor only sent his heart beating faster.  
He wondered if Isaac were already here.  
In contrast, Isaac had heard him being brought in and was currently trying to think of a way to let him know that he was there. He couldn’t think of anything he wouldn’t be hit for, and he’d taken enough of those over the past few days.  
“All in?” they heard one of the men call.  
“One more.”  
The music suddenly turned off. There were some loud metallic clangs in the distance, and the sound of a garage door opening.  
Taylor felt more confident now than before at his prediction that they’d been in an abandoned warehouse somewhere.  
The van doors closed and it pulled forward. It rolled to a stop outside where they heard the roller door close again, one last person get into the van, and then they were off again.

*

Zac’s knee was bouncing as he sat in the back of Natalie’s car. His stare lay out the window, making sure they were going the right way. He’d already panicked that traffic would be an issue at this time of day, so they’d left thirty minutes earlier than planned just in case.  
“You doin’ okay?” Mike asked from beside him.  
“Nope,” he replied, not wanting to say more.  
Natalie was silent in the front seat, and Matt was solemn as he drove.  
They hit a bit of traffic, but still managed to arrive with fifteen minutes to spare. Zac was out of the car the moment it stopped and Mike moved to help him with the bags. One backpack and one satchel.  
Natalie closed the door behind her as he was putting the satchel over his shoulder.  
“I better get in there,” he was looking over his shoulder into the park.  
The amount of small children playing and being watched by their parents was already worrying him. He didn’t need anyone figuring out what was going on.  
“They said this entrance, right?” Mike indicated, “did they say in or out?”  
“I don’t remember,” Zac’s brow furrowed, “I’ll just wait by the gate. But you guys can’t be near.”  
“Want me to park somewhere else?” Matt leant over in his seat to call out.  
“No,” Zac admitted, “I need you close in case something happens.”  
“Hey,” Natalie put a hand on his shoulder, making him look down at her.  
The look in his eye took her breath away and she had to work to pull herself together.  
“You can do this,” she was stern, “just stay calm. Don’t provoke them.”  
“Why would I-?”  
“Because I know you,” she forced a smile, “so just don’t. Just drop the money and get them out of there.”  
She leant up to give him a kiss on the cheek before pulling him into a hug.  
“Good luck,” Mike gave him a pat on the shoulder once she’d let go.  
“Thanks,” Zac breathed a sigh before adjusting the straps.  
“Good luck,” Natalie barely got the words out before turning to get back in the car.  
Mike chose to wait beside it as Zac made his way onto the sidewalk. A quick check of his watch showed that he still had five minutes, and a glance over his shoulder showed that Mike was watching him all the way.  
He stopped at the gate and looked into the park, trying to spot anything suspicious. The only occupants of the park seemed to be mothers (and one father) with their children, and an older man walking his dog. No one looked out of place.  
With another sigh he turned his back so he could pay attention to the street. It was busy, but possibly not as busy as it could have been for this time of day.  
Many people passed him, and every time someone did he’d check his watch again. As soon as it moved past 3pm his anxiety skyrocketed. It was 3:02 when he saw a man walking towards him wearing dark clothing, a dark cap and large sunglasses, with a bushy beard covering the rest of his face. Zac thought he looked like the embodiment of someone who shouldn’t be anywhere near a children’s playground, and he felt his skin crawl as the man drew closer.

*

The van had stopped once, long enough for someone to jump out, then continued driving. Taylor by now had gathered that Isaac was with him – he’d heard chains moving that hadn’t been attached to him, and accompanying grunts that sounded a lot like his brother. He guessed he’d still been blindfolded and somehow gagged too.  
These guys were being very careful.  
When the van finally came to a halt the men in the back were suddenly very quiet. Someone asked for the time, and it was just around 3pm. After a harrowing few moments of nothing both brothers jumped as the side door was pulled open. The first thing to hit them was the smell and sound of the ocean.  
Hearing another grunt from Isaac, Taylor began to fret as he felt someone take hold of his arms again. Aside from everything that was already happening – something didn’t feel right. He landed on asphalt and heard the chains fall beside him before hearing Isaac also hitting the ground nearby.  
He was pulled a few feet from the van and turned so that his back was to it, Isaac feeling the same thing. The sound of the chains moving was hauntingly in sync with the crash of the nearby waves. 

*

Zac had felt guarded enough with his back to the wire fence, but he was soon proved wrong. The man didn’t slow as he walked into his side and he soon felt the blade of a knife leaning into the left of his abdomen. His priority being to keep hold of the bags, he hadn’t even thought to deflect it.  
“Let’s make this easy,” the man’s voice was low as Zac let out an uncomfortable grunt, “hand them over and I’ll be out of your hair.”  
Zac sucked in a sharp breath as he struggled to pull the satchel from his shoulder. The man took it and quickly checked inside, careful to keep the knife in place as he did.  
“Where are they?” Zac asked through his teeth.  
“Close,” the man responded, satisfied with the contents and moving the strap over his head.  
He had to let Zac stand up from the fence so he could remove the backpack, and Zac used the movement to duck away a little. The man hid the knife inside his arm like a pro.  
“Give it to me,” he demanded, holding out a hand, “or you’ll never see them again.”  
Zac hastily handed it over, shooting a quick glance at Mike over his shoulder as the contents were inspected. It looked like Mike was subtly recording them on his phone.  
“So can I see them?” Zac was getting impatient.  
“Look for the fireworks,” the man said under his breath as he slung the backpack over his shoulder.  
He looked up, but Zac still couldn’t make out much of his face. Nothing discernible, not even a scar.  
“I really do hope you find them in time.”  
He turned to walk away.  
“That’s it?!” Zac exclaimed, making to go after him.  
“Don’t follow me!” he sharply turned back to point a finger, “you won’t find them! It’s up to you now!”  
Zac froze on the sidewalk in disbelief as the man continued walking, pulling out a cell phone on his way and talking quietly into it.  
He looked back toward the car. Mike was giving him a quizzical shrug. Breath now coming in shortened gasps Zac reached for his own phone and quickly dialled 911. Mike took the cue to make his way over.  
“911, what’s your emergency?”  
“This is Zac Hanson, I’m calling from Little Haiti Park on North-East 2nd in Miami, Florida,” he began, already out of breath, “two of my brothers have been abducted.”

*

Both Isaac and Taylor heard the phone ringing.  
“Yeah?” the familiar voice of their leader answered.  
An awkward moment of silence followed. Isaac kept his head down as he tried to listen above the ambient noise, and Taylor was running a hand over the asphalt trying to guess where they were.  
“Alright.”  
A beep signalled the call ending.  
“Good news. We got paid. Time to cut them loose.”  
Both Hanson hearts were instantly racing again. They heard footsteps surrounding them, and Taylor flinched as one of them pulled his blindfold away. Before anything else he was looking for Isaac. He had to twist his body to look over his shoulder, but spotted him just in time for Isaac’s blindfold to be removed.  
They locked eyes once Isaac’s focused before both instantly fell to the rocky ground between them. A place where the chains locked around their throats met, and were in turn locked to an iron weight.  
Taylor’s eyes darted out to his right across the horizon of the ocean. It didn’t take long to work out where they were. A small car lot with a drop right from the edge into the water.  
And they were sitting right on that edge.  
Isaac’s protests started the moment one of them came for Taylor.  
“Get everything else in the van,” the leader ordered as Taylor attempted to dig his heels into the road.  
He couldn’t deflect them taking hold of his arms, and with his ankles still taped it already felt like a losing fight. But he managed to wedge his boots on the inside of the wooden beam that separated them from the water and it caused a grunt from his captor.  
“A little help?!” he demanded of the only other man left with them.  
“Just throw the weight over, they’ll soon go with it,” came the response.  
Isaac had been watching Taylor’s struggle, and hearing that he turned his attention to the van. There were only three captors in view – including their leader – and he’d gone back to the van. A white car sat to the left blocking both entry and exit to the lot, and it looked like a fourth man was sat in the driver’s seat waiting.  
If there were only two of them to fight, they might just make it.  
Taylor hitting the asphalt hard snapped him back to reality. As the men almost instantly went for the weight, Isaac realised it was going to take both of them to lift it.  
He couldn’t let the weight go over the edge. There’d be no way he and Taylor could hold it by their throats.  
The drop to the water was at least 5ft, and they had no idea how deep the water was. The chains were somewhere between 8-10ft each. It didn’t leave a lot of room for hope if they went over.  
Isaac dug his heels in and began pushing himself back toward the car.  
“Grab him!” the one who’d been struggling with Taylor pointed in his direction as Taylor tried to sit up again, “they’re making too much noise!”  
He looked back to watch as the other captor went after Isaac. He’d made it to the limit of his chain and braced himself.  
“What’s taking so long?” the leader looked back, leaving the van door open.  
By now Taylor realised what Isaac was doing and had started trying to push himself back away from the water too. Unfortunately the other guy was close enough to stop him before he could get far.  
“This is ridiculous,” their leader came back to the group.  
He went for the weight and managed to move it himself. Realising what had happened Isaac lay back onto his hands to get as much grip on the road as he could. Taylor had started to panic again, unable to get away from the captor who held him.  
“Bring him up,” the leader indicated to him, setting the weight on the barrier but holding it balanced.  
Taylor felt himself being lifted from the ground again. He still managed to keep his feet this side of the wood, but knew that if the weight went over he’d be following it headfirst. He locked eyes with Isaac again hoping he realised his predicament. He had, and was already weighing their likelihood of surviving the water.  
“Him too,” the leader indicated Isaac, “let’s get this done.”  
Finding some momentary leverage, Taylor suddenly pushed back on the man that held him. He obviously hadn’t expected the move as they both suddenly fell to the ground.  
“Fucking hell!”  
“Now what?!”  
“This son of a bitch has more fight in him!”  
Isaac’s eyes widened as the leader suddenly drew his gun again. His patience had evidently gone. By the time Taylor recovered enough to look up again it was right down the barrel.  
“Do you want to go now, or do you want a chance?” the leader’s dead eyes stared down at him.  
He didn’t have time to comprehend the question before the wound on his forehead was reopened by the butt. Isaac had frozen on the spot, already aware that this was not going to work in their favour. Even if they could fight long enough that someone might come along and pay attention, if it ended in Taylor or he being shot there was no point.  
“Get him over here!” the leader indicated Isaac.  
The third man, who’d already been trying to move him, finally grabbed him under the arms and turned to drag him backward. Isaac struggled to keep his eye on Taylor who already seemed to be drifting in and out after the hit. As a result it was easier for him to be moved to the edge, gunpoint or not.  
By the time Isaac found himself sitting against the barrier, Taylor was in the same spot and all three men now stood over them. Taylor had time to take three deep breaths before they both saw the weight go over. With no more time to think Isaac braced himself while Taylor attempted to lift his centre of gravity.  
They both hit the water hard, Taylor on his side and Isaac on his back. They both felt the chains tighten for a moment before slacking, and after hitting the seabed managed to launch themselves back to the surface again. Taylor surfaced first and struggled to breathe before seeing Isaac break the water just a few feet away. The chains kept their shoulders from breaking the water, but unable to kick their legs out for balance they both soon went under again.

*

“What happened?” Mike demanded as he made it to Zac’s side, “where are they?”  
“Fireworks,” Zac’s eyes were darting.  
“What?”  
“He said fireworks. We have to look for fireworks. I don’t know what he meant by that!”  
“Did you call the cops?”  
“They’re on their way.”  
Mike looked back into the park. No one was paying them any attention.  
“Come back to the car,” he suggested, “we don’t know who might be hanging around.”  
“Well it’s not Ike or Tay,” Zac’s hands went to his head, getting very close to losing his cool.  
“Come on,” Mike put a hand on his shoulder, “why don’t we-?”  
He cut off as a crack seemed to echo through the air. More than a few people on the street all looked to the direction it had come from. In the distance – behind a few blocks’ worth of buildings – a smoke cloud was rising in the air.  
“Fireworks?” Zac’s brow furrowed as his hands fell.  
“Come on!” Mike dropped his arm and the two bolted back for Natalie’s car.  
“What is it?!” she demanded as they hastily threw themselves in the back.  
“Just drive!” Zac didn’t bother with a belt.  
“Head straight, you’ll see what we’re going for,” Mike instructed Matt.  
Picking up on the haste, Matt pulled out as soon as the car started. A sharp left turn and they were soon barrelling down North East 62nd.  
“It looks like it’s on the water,” Matt broke the awkward silence.  
“Does anyone want to tell me what’s going on?!” Natalie was fretting.  
“What did you tell the cops?” Mike turned to Zac.  
“Just what the guy told me,” he shrugged, a vice grip on Natalie’s seat.  
“You called the police?” Natalie demanded, “I thought they said not to!”  
“They did, but-“  
“Zac what happened?!”  
“I don’t know, okay?!” his voice rose, “they’re not here. When I asked where they were, he said to look for fireworks. So…”  
Natalie’s face whitened as she turned back to the rising smoke.  
“Don’t panic,” Mike leant forward to put a hand on her shoulder, “we don’t know what’s going on. Just take a breath.”  
Thanks to Matt’s driving, they were there in barely two minutes. As soon as they spotted the van Zac’s door was open before the wheels stopped.  
“Zac!” Mike called after him.  
“It’s the van!” Zac called back.  
He’d recognised it right away, despite the flames rising from the interior. His stomach dropped at the very real possibility that his brothers might be in there.  
“It’s definitely the van,” Mike confirmed as Natalie and Matt both got out the car.  
“Where’s Taylor?” Natalie was looking to Zac.  
“I don’t know,” he had trouble prying his eyes from the van.  
Mike took the initiative to walk around the van, checking to make sure no one had been in the front. They couldn’t really see inside the cargo hold for the flames, despite the side door being open and one of the back doors already falling from the hinge. Sirens in the distance seemed to snap Zac out of it, and both he and Matt followed Mike to have a closer look.  
“IKE? TAYLOR?!” Mike had started shouting in case they were anywhere nearby.  
“What is that?!” Natalie was pointing to something on the ground.  
Zac was closest so made his way over to check.  
“It’s blood,” he frowned, causing him to look over the edge, “oh my God!”  
In half a second he was gone, causing the others to run to the barrier. Zac dove clear into the water beside Taylor, hitting the bottom with his feet and thrusting himself to the surface again. The first thing he did was pull the tape from Taylor’s mouth.  
“Ike’s gone under!” was the first thing he said before another loud splash signalled Mike following Zac into the water.  
Zac didn’t have time to go under again before Mike resurfaced with Isaac in tow.  
“What happened?!” Zac called out over the waves.  
Every time a wave came crashing into the nearby wall, Isaac and Taylor went under again. It took a couple of tries for Mike to get the tape off Isaac.  
“They’re chained down!” Mike finally called back, before Zac spotted the chain on Taylor’s neck.  
“To what?!” Zac frowned.  
“A weight,” Taylor struggled to get out, “it’s locked, we can’t get it off.”  
“Between us we should be able to lift it,” Mike looked to Zac.  
“And put it where? It’s going to pull us down!” he scorned.  
“Hey!” Mike called up the landing where Matt and Natalie were looking over, “got any bolt cutters?!”  
“Nat?” Taylor gasped before another wave forced him under.  
“There might be some in the trunk,” Natalie told her brother, prompting him to run for the car again.  
“Can you stay up?” Zac noticed Taylor still having trouble keeping his head up.  
“Our legs are tied,” he revealed.  
“And hands cuffed,” Isaac added before another wave hit them.  
“Shit,” Mike was watching for Matt to come back.  
“How long have you been here?” Zac frowned.  
“Just before the van blew,” Taylor replied, having worked out that was what had happened when shrapnel had come flying over the edge.  
“Heads up!” Matt called down, starting to lower the cutters via a tow rope.  
“The fire truck’s here!” Natalie called after them.  
Mike grabbed for the cutters as Zac took hold of Taylor’s arm before another wave hit. Using leverage from the wall he was nearly able to keep Taylor’s head up as it crashed.  
“Anyone got a knife?” he looked to Mike.  
“One thing at a time!” he disappeared below the surface.  
“I don’t think I can hold this,” Isaac spluttered the moment he was gone.  
“We made it this far you are _not_ giving up now,” Taylor said between his teeth.  
Mike surfaced to take a deep breath before the next wave, and once it passed they looked up to see more heads looking over the barrier. They couldn’t hear what the firemen were saying but all three felt relief at the sight.  
Despite Mike’s best attempts, he couldn’t get the leverage he needed to break Isaac’s chain. Just holding onto the cutters alone was dragging him under, so when he finally surfaced again he took a page from Zac’s book and pulled Isaac closer to the wall so he could work to hold them both above the water.  
It didn’t take long for the firemen to enact their own plan of action, sending a ladder over the edge. As soon as it hit the water both Zac and Mike grabbed onto it to hold themselves up. One of the firemen soon made their way down.  
“You boys need help?!” he called.  
“They’re chained down!” Zac responded as another wave hit and he struggled to keep Taylor’s head up again.  
“There’s a weight,” Mike elaborated, “the chains are locked to it. We can’t lift it ourselves.”  
“We can hold them up but not for long!” Zac added.  
“We’ll get you guys out, just hold on!”  
Taylor grunted when he surfaced again to see the fireman returning up the ladder. He conferred at the top with his team before climbing back down.  
“Okay. We’re going to lower a chain to hook the weight and pull ‘er up,” he announced, “it’s on its way.”  
“Is the chain long enough to go up without you?” Mike looked between them.  
“It should be,” Taylor responded, wincing as Zac’s grip choked him a little, “it’s pretty long.”  
“Then things are looking up!”  
Isaac smirked at that, literally looking up, before taking a breath just before the next wave. The next time they surfaced the fireman was guiding the chain down.  
“Here!” Mike indicated for it, before grabbing it as it swung toward him.  
He took a deep breath and disappeared under the water. Isaac frantically grasped at the smooth wall with his hands not knowing how long he’d be, but ended up being pushed under by the next wave again.  
“Zac! Get him!” Taylor panicked again when he realised he hadn’t resurfaced.  
Zac dropped Taylor’s arm and swam over, finding his brother just below the surface and pulling him up by the arm. Isaac gasped as he broke the surface and started coughing.  
“Come on Ike, just hold on a minute more,” Zac grunted, again holding onto the wall.  
Two waves went by before Mike surfaced again and he immediately pointed skyward.  
“PULL IT UP!”  
The chain went taut as the firemen began their haul.  
“Get Tay!” Zac indicated him once Mike was free.  
Mike swam to his side just as the weight began to surface. Zac grimaced at the sight of it, knowing for sure now that they wouldn’t have gotten it out themselves.  
“Not long now,” Mike assured, his eye on Taylor as he watched the weight slowly rise.  
“But how are we getting up the ladder?” his brow furrowed.  
“Maybe they can pull you up one at a time,” Zac suggested.  
“Take Ike first,” Taylor insisted before another wave hit.  
“Can you lower the ladder more?!” Zac called up to the fireman still down there as he kept the weight steady while it was pulled.  
“We can. We’ll just get this sorted first!”  
Isaac still couldn’t see how they’d possibly be successful, but he was ready to give it a go. Once they had the all clear on the weight hitting the ground, the fireman climbed back up and Zac began to manoeuvre Isaac toward the ladder.  
“On your back,” Mike instructed, “get your feet on the bottom rung and hold on with your hands.”  
“I got it,” Isaac grunted, trying to grab the ladder to use as leverage so he could lift his legs.  
It took a few tries, and Isaac had already been weak before trying to keep himself afloat, but he finally managed to get the heels of his shoes hooked on the bottom rung. Zac helped him straighten up (catching a first glimpse of the handcuffs in the meantime) before urgently signalling the firemen.  
Isaac kept his eyes upward as the ladder rose, worried now that if he fell he’d surely hang by the chain. Even his death grip on the ladder didn’t convince him he was safe.  
Once it had risen above their heads Zac swam over to help Mike with Taylor. Between them they were finally able to keep his head completely out of the water.  
Once Isaac reached the barrier two of the firemen reached over to take hold of him under the arms. It took some prompting for him to let go of his own accord, but he soon found himself sprawled on the asphalt once again.  
The ladder went straight back over the side.  
“Ike?!” Natalie appeared at his side as he began to cough.  
Not from swallowing water, but from the adrenaline rush.  
“Hey,” he managed a tired smile before one of the firemen sat him up.  
“The police are on their way, they’ll get these off for you,” he indicated the cuffs, “are you okay for now?”  
“Yeah, yeah I’m okay. I think,” he frowned, looking back toward the van.  
It was well and truly ablaze, with not much left already. Three firefighters were hard at work on it.  
“Come on Tay, your turn,” Mike gave him a shove as the ladder fell into the water again.  
“Thanks,” he momentarily made eye contact before attempting to get into the same position Isaac had.  
Being taller it was more difficult, but both Zac and Mike helped him from either side. Once they started pulling him up he allowed himself to take a deep breath, willing his heartrate to finally slow once again.  
He felt as though his adrenaline had been pumping for six days straight.  
They pulled him in the same way as they had Isaac, and he soon found himself on the ground beside his brother. The ladder went straight back down.  
“Hey!” Natalie greeted him before he could even focus.  
“Nat,” he forced himself to sit up, despite nearly not making it.  
He let her hug him before taking in the scene. By now the flames were nearly doused and blue lights were bouncing around the area signalling the arrival of the police.  
“Are you okay?!” a fireman was asking, begging for his attention.  
“Yeah I’m fine,” he assured before twisting his body to turn around, “Ike are you okay?!”  
“I’m okay!” he insisted, “I’ll be better once I can walk again.”  
Taylor smiled at that, taking in the light-heartedness of his request. He finally felt a kind of relief he wasn’t sure he’d ever feel again.  
Taking in the moment, he fell down onto his side.  
Both Zac and Mike climbed up the ladder themselves, Zac attempting to shake himself off once he was on solid ground. After taking a quick moment to make sure Isaac and Taylor were safe, he eyed the squad car and made his way over.  
“How did he even find us?” Taylor asked from his place on the ground as Natalie attempted to remove the tape from his legs.  
“Something the guy at the drop told him,” she blew off, though she wasn’t entirely sure herself.  
Isaac kept his eye on the officers, relieved when they finally rushed over. After another check that they were in fact ‘okay’ one of them got to work on the handcuffs. Zac began answering the many questions coming from the other.  
Mike meanwhile began to make actual use of the bolt cutters.  
Isaac groaned as he was finally able to bring his hands to the front again. He exercised his fingers for a moment before lifting the front of his shirt.  
“What is it?” Mike frowned, noticing.  
“Just checking,” he assured, “I woke up in an ice bath at one point I wasn’t sure if I lost a kidney or something.”  
“If it were a kidney, the scar would be on your back,” Mike mused, making Isaac give him a worried look.  
“You didn’t lose anything,” Taylor insisted while his hands were also being freed, “they were just trying to wake you up.”  
“What happened?” Natalie asked worriedly, already eyeing the wound on her husband’s forehead.  
“The room we were in was just really hot, and we didn’t have much water,” he quickly explained before he was finally able to touch his head himself.  
When he pulled his fingertips away he was glad to not see blood on them.  
They all jumped as a sudden loud bang came from the van, turning to see that part of the roof had caved in.  
“We’ll need to get a quick description of the perpetrators from you so we can get a search underway,” one of the policemen informed them.  
“We’re not going to be much help,” Taylor shook his head.  
“Yeah they kept us blindfolded the whole time,” Isaac agreed, “and anytime we weren’t, they were wearing masks.”  
“We’d know their voices if we heard them but that’s about it,” Taylor added, “and they had a car here. A white sedan with Florida plates.”  
“TR6-1971,” Isaac recited right away.  
“Whoa,” Taylor mused, “even I didn’t get that.”  
“You were fighting them at the time,” Isaac shrugged, “I figured it would come in handy if we survived.”  
“We might be able to give you a basic description of stature,” Mike spoke up, looking toward Zac, “we were there when they were taken. We saw four of them.”  
“I had my head under the seat,” Zac shrugged, already kicking himself for it.  
“There were five of them,” Taylor corrected Mike.  
“I only remember seeing four,” Isaac frowned.  
“Four picked us up, but someone had to be the driver.”  
“It’s a start,” the officer assured, before indicating for Mike to follow him as he walked back to the car.  
He obliged, well and truly ready to give a statement.  
“We also need to tell them about Cathy,” Taylor reminded Isaac, rubbing his right hip as his legs finally parted.  
“Who’s Cathy?” Natalie asked right away.  
“She was with us,” Taylor looked up, “not as a hostage, but like she had to do stuff for them. Feed us, and look after us.”  
“She was working with them?”  
“No they picked her up off the street,” Isaac corrected, “she was very scared the whole time.”  
“We don’t know what they’ve done with her. She wasn’t here,” Taylor looked worried.  
“She might still be at the warehouse,” Isaac suggested.  
“Did you see the warehouse? Do you know what it looks like?” Taylor asked him.  
“No, it’s a guess,” Isaac admitted, “it _sounded_ like a warehouse.”  
“It looked like we were in a storage room,” Taylor amended, “or a back office or something. So you’re probably right.”  
“You need to tell the police,” Natalie insisted.  
“Yeah,” Taylor chewed his lip, trying to prepare himself for standing up.  
Both Natalie and Matt helped him to his feet just as an ambulance pulled in to the back of the lot. The police car was blocking the entryway so it was the closest they could get. After a quick meeting with the officers the paramedics made their way over, skirting the smouldering van. Zac had offered Isaac his hand and had him on his feet as well. They were both unsteady on their feet but still able to walk.  
After a quick evaluation, a drink of fresh water and Taylor having his wound tended to, they were both transferred to the hospital for treatment for their dehydration and malnutrition. The police followed them there in order to get their official statements once they’d been seen to. Natalie, Matt, Zac and Mike all followed in Natalie’s car, none of them looking back as they drove away from the scene.  
“Hey, guys?” Zac broke the awkward silence when they must have been halfway there, “I don’t think I ever actually said thank you, so… thanks. For everything.”  
“It’s been one hell of a week,” Mike blew off.  
“And you’ve been one hell of a roadie,” Zac mused.  
“You could always give me a raise,” he came back with, making Zac smirk.  
“Someone needs to call Bex and let her know they’re okay,” Natalie insisted, making Zac reach for his phone.  
He paused when he realised his mistake, then laughed and fell back into the seat.  
“What?” Natalie turned in her seat as Mike began to laugh too.  
Zac held his phone up.  
“I had it in my pocket when I jumped in, it’s dead,” he explained, “that means the photos and everything are gone.”  
“See I threw mine onto the ground _before_ I jumped,” Mike pulled his from his pocket, “so I still have the video I took. Want me to call Bex?”  
“Yeah, sure. Get her to call Kate and Nicole. Tell them we don’t have our cells but we’ll be at the hospital.”  
“They’d still have records, wouldn’t they? Like phone records?” Matt looked in the rear mirror.  
“They’d have a record of incoming texts and calls, supposedly from Taylor’s phone,” Zac shrugged, “I doubt they’d have the actual photos.”  
“Guess we’ll find out,” Natalie chewed her lip, personally never wanting to see the photos again.


	7. Monday (Epilogue)

**Monday Night (3 Months Later)**

“Thank you Miami!” Taylor waved from the keyboard microphone.  
“I just want to say before we go…” Isaac caused a pause and the crowd to quieten a little, “that we are very, very appreciative for all the support shown to us over the past few months, and for your patience while you had to wait for us to reschedule.”  
Taylor silently clapped the audience as Zac lowered his eyes.  
“We know many of you have been frustrated… I guarantee none more so than us. But we are really glad to finally do this show, and it has been an awesome night.”  
“We also wanted you guys to know that what happened here would in no way influence our decision on whether or not to come back,” Taylor leant over his microphone again insistently, “we love this city and we will always love this city, and for as long as you want us to we will always come back.”  
This elicited a cheer from the crowd which put a grin on all three of their faces.   
Zac gave Isaac a pat on the shoulder which gave him the signal to wrap things up.  
“So once again, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you. And we will see you again soon,” he put his hand to his heart.  
The three brothers stepped into the middle of the stage to take their final bow, wave to the crowd, and quickly depart the stage. As the venue began to empty while Mike pulled the stage down, the brothers were accosted backstage and pulled aside for a promised interview.  
It didn’t take long before the subject began to circle their last stay in Miami.  
“They did find the car, and it did help the police a little,” Taylor responded to their fishing, “but the people who did this are still on the run. We never had a way to identify them so we can’t really do more than we already have.”  
“And I think they are definitely the kind of people who will do this again,” Isaac added.  
“We don’t want to cause panic or anything,” Taylor’s eyes fell to the recorder, “but people should know that they are still out there and yes, we are convinced they’ll do this again. They practically told us this was a first time and implied there’d be another.”  
“Are the police keeping you updated on the investigation?”  
“Yes. Mostly. There’s probably a lot we don’t need to know,” Zac shrugged.  
“We have been kept up to date on any new developments, of which there haven’t been many,” Isaac admitted, “most of the evidence was destroyed in the fire and they never found the place we were taken.”  
“But they’re still looking,” Taylor added, “and we do have faith in the police department to do their jobs and find these guys.”  
“Absolutely,” Isaac agreed.  
The interview soon came to a close and the guys went to change clothes as their crew continued to pack up. When everyone was finally ready it was time to head out to the bus.  
Knowing it was going to be full on, they each took a deep breath before the doors opened. Camera flashes instantly greeted them, and despite Bex’s attempts to keep them moving the brothers stopped many times to sign autographs and take photos with their fans. They purposely tried to stay out a little later, each still feeling guilty for having to cancel a show for only the second time in their lives.  
As usual Taylor ended up in the middle of the crowd while Isaac and Zac managed to work their way through. Isaac finally found himself on the outer edge of the crowd as it bled into the street, though he was now caught up in conversation with a small group who were trying to guess when they’d be back to touring properly. As Isaac didn’t know he found himself skirting their questions, and when he looked away to gather his thoughts something across the street caught his eye.  
“Excuse me for just one moment,” Isaac raised a finger before backing away and rushing across the street.  
He approached a trio of girls who were walking in the opposite direction.  
“Cathy!” he called out as his jog slowed, “Cathy, is that you?!”  
The girls halted when they realised he was talking to them, and two of them turned to him confused. He indicated the third, who hadn’t turned around.  
“Her name’s not Cathy, it’s Isabelle,” one of them corrected.  
Isaac was taken aback for a moment, but when she finally did turn around knowing the game was up he just looked confused.  
“Is it you,” he frowned.  
“Guys can you give me a sec?” she looked to her friends.  
“With Isaac Hanson?!”  
“Guys!” she was forceful.  
The two looked both dismayed and curious, but honoured her request. They stepped aside.  
“What are you doing here?” he shrugged.  
“I wanted to see how you guys were,” she shrugged.  
“And you weren’t going to say hello?” his brow furrowed, “we didn’t know what happened to you! We didn’t know you were even alive! You need to go and talk to the police about what you know.”  
“I don’t think I’d be very helpful,” she hugged herself, avoiding eye contact.  
“I think you would. I really think you would, and I know the guys-“  
“I _know_ I wouldn’t be very helpful,” she finally looked him in the eye.  
The move caught him off guard and he paused.   
“What are you saying?” he broke the awkward moment, feeling a chill in his spine at the look she was giving him, “are you saying you don’t want to help us? That you don’t care if this happens to someone else?”  
“I’m _saying_ …” her voice lowered, “that the only regret I have is that we didn’t get Zac too.”  
Dumbstruck, Isaac didn’t know how to respond.  
She looked him in the eye again for a moment before turning to join her friends and walk away. He wanted to go after her but his feet felt like they were glued to the pavement. He couldn’t move.  
He watched as the three got into a car further down the street and hastily drove away.  
“IKE?!”  
Zac’s voice snapped him out of it and he turned to look back at the crowd. Zac was beckoning, as Taylor had finally made it to the bus. This was usually their cue to go.  
With no more reason to stay, Isaac made his way back. His mind raced with what to do with what he’d learned. Should he tell his brothers or not? Taylor was so determined to try and find her, it would devastate him to think she’d possibly be in on it. If he would even believe it.   
Knowing his brothers would be elated from the night they’d just had, by the time he made it to the bus he opted not to say anything. He apologised to the girls he’d last spoken to before disappearing onto the bus and watching Zac close the doors behind them.  
“Where’d you go?” Zac asked as he climbed up behind him.  
“Thought I saw something. It doesn’t matter,” he brushed off, Zac giving him a pat on the shoulder as he passed and made his way down the aisle.  
Isaac looked back to the driver as they began to pull out of the lot, hearing his brothers laughing with Demetrius in the lounge area.   
No, he didn’t want to spoil a great night. But he was already beginning to plan out what he’d say to their liaising officer first thing in the morning.  
He had her real name now. It was only going to be a matter of time.


End file.
